In the last year alone, GM has issued more than 29 vehicle recalls after facing public scrutiny and class action lawsuits from private and public entities for deadly product defects. It is estimated that the number of vehicles recalled due to an ignition switch failure totals close to 13.8 million within the United States. Globally to date, GM has recalled 15.8 million vehicles due to the same ignition switch failure.

Vehicles recalled due to the ignition switch defect include:

• 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt
• 2005-2007 Pontiac G5
• 2003-2007 Saturn Ion
• 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHR
• 2005-2006 Pontiac Pursuit
• 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice
• 2007 Saturn Sky

A GM ignition switch class action lawsuit has been filed against the General Motors Car Company for knowingly producing vehicles with a dangerous product defect. This defect has led to sudden engine failure and has prevented airbags from deploying upon vehicular impact, resulting in driver and passenger injury and fatality.

As of May 21, GM has recalled an additional 284,000 older GM cars for another product defect. In certain GM vehicles, the running daytime lights tend to overheat and may spontaneously combust when used. The recalled vehicles include:

• 2004-2008 Chevrolet Aveo
• 2004-2008 Chevrolet Optra

History of Ignition Switch Defect

According to several news sources, engineers discovered the faulty ignition switch and the potential problems associated with this defect back in 2001. Because of a flaw in the ignition switch’s design, an individual’s car key may suddenly and unknowingly move to the “accessory” or “off” position during a drive, resulting in the engine turning off and preventing airbags from deploying during an accident. The Center for Auto Safety has conducted a review which links an estimated 300 deaths with GM vehicles.

Despite its awareness of the issue, GM has been slow to act and did not recall most of these vehicles until this year. As a result, GM is being fined $35 million by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. There are concurrent investigations of the ignition switch failure in GM vehicles and the company’s failure to recall the vehicles by the U.S. Department of Justice, Congress, and several states.

Ongoing Litigation

GM is currently facing 70 separate ignition switch lawsuits from customers. The company has responded by reaching confidential settlements with the families of victims of vehicular accidents as a result of the ignition switch failure.

As a result, Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have proposed a bill that would discourage federal judges from sealing these court records. Blumenthal asserts that GM’s continued secrecy of these court proceedings has denied the public the knowledge of the safety threats associated with GM cars containing this ignition switch failure.