General Motors has added another car to its recall for ignition switch issues. This time, more than 200,000 Saturn VUE vehicles (model years 2002 – 2004) are being recalled for a problem that may allow a driver to remove the key from the ignition while the vehicle is running. According to GM, this may have caused at least one injury and two accidents.
This is a tiny recall compared to recalls for ignition switch issues, which sits at over 10 million vehicles. General Motors created a compensation fund for some recalled vehicles, but not all, so victims are pursuing their own lawsuits. The GM ignition switch issues not supported spawned numerous GM lawsuits being filed by victims of injury and their families, owners, and investors.
The Saturn VUE recall was announced on August 8, and was the largest of several recalls announced that day. The others were not ignition switch related. They include seat belt issues in the 2013 Cadillac ATS four-door sedans and 2013 Buick Encore vehicles, which arose during testing and led to a stop sale order; defective console storage compartment latches in the 2014 and 2015 Chevy Impala LT and LTZ models; and the 2009-10 Chevrolet Aveo and 2009 Pontiac G3 for brake fluid problems.
The most recent recall of the Saturn VUE recall impacts 202,115 vehicles. Owners are advised to make sure the vehicle is in “park” or “reverse” with the parking brake engaged, with a manual transmission, before removing the key and getting out.
Downfall of a Giant
General Motors’ fall from grace may be largely self-inflicted. It’s alleged that the company knew about the ignition switch issue for more than a decade before issuing the first recall. It might have been longer if the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) hadn’t started investigating 13 deaths of drivers whose air bags did not deploy.
The NHTSA findings concluded the air bag issue was caused by faulty ignition switches. This led to General Motors’ first ignition switch vehicle recall, and a $35 million fine from the NHTSA, along with a host of other fines and penalties, and an increasing numbers of GM ignition switch lawsuits.
Lawsuits Continue
In July, a product liability lawsuit was filed on behalf of those affected by the ignition switch defects, but whose cars are not part of the compensation plan. They include the families of 29 people who died in accidents, as well as more than 600 injured victims.
These GM lawsuits, and others, are part of an upcoming multidistrict litigation (MDL). The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order consolidating all GM lawsuits seeking financial compensation to New York, under U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman.
In general, General Motors recall lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.
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