The families of two Wisconsin teens killed in a crash involving a General Motors car with a defective ignition switch have agreed to accept offers from a GM program set up to compensate victims and their families for crash injuries and deaths.

The girls, Amy Rademaker, 15, and Natasha Weigel, 18, died in October 2006 after the now-recalled 2005 Chevy Cobalt they were riding in suddenly lost power steering, and the brakes and airbags failed before slamming into a telephone pole box and trees in St. Croix County, Wis. The 17-year-old driver, Megan Ungar-Kerns, suffered brain damage in the crash.

Rademaker died hours after the crash while, Weigel, who was in the backseat, died 11 days later as the result of head injuries. Initially, GM did not consider Weigel’s death to have been caused by the ignition switch failure since the backseat did not have airbags.

The year after the crash an investigation revealed that the ignition switch was in the “accessory” position instead of “run,” and the front airbags did not deploy. The investigation further stated that there had been numerous complaints in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s database reporting similar ignition switch problems.

The Cobalt is one of 2.6 million vehicles GM has recalled since the beginning of the year for switch problems.

The confidential compensation amount is offered by GM through a program run by Kenneth Feinberg, the same lawyer who has administered programs for victims of the 9/11 attacks and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. GM set aside $400 million to cover the costs of the compensation program, which is accepting claims through Dec. 31.

As of Oct. 6, nearly 1,000 injury and 165 death claims had been filed with the GM compensation program. Feinberg confirmed that he has certified 24 people as eligible for settlements.

GM has made 15 verbal cash offers – each one at least $1 million — to eligible claimants, according to the fund’s deputy administrator.

GM has come under fire for allegedly knowing about its vehicles’ problems for at least 10 years before issuing recalls.

Though the recall has been heavily publicized and GM has sent owners “ominous-sounding recall letters,” more than 1 million of the vehicles remain on the road without having been fixed. The company has used Facebook messages and phone calls in an attempt to alert consumers.

The massive recall spawned inquiries by the Justice Department, a Congressional committee and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.