Posted by Brianna Montalvo.
Since 2014, General Motors has been having ignition switch issues with their vehicles which has lead to 30 million recalls. As of Tuesday, March 29 2016, a jury in New York City has yet to reach a verdict on the ignition switch controversy. This case was brought to the jury by a lawyer who is defending a man and a woman whom were in an accident on a New Orleans bridge back in 2014. The couple claim the ignition switch of their GM vehicle is to blame for the accident.
As stated, “Hundreds of claims remain against the automaker after GM revealed two years ago that it had continued to sell flawed vehicles for more than a decade after discovering an ignition switch defect in Chevy Cobalts and other small cars,” (Neumeister). It has been said that the ignition switch itself can slip out of position making it difficult to steer or stop the vehicle, which then would cause the vehicle to stall. GM has claimed they fixed their problem, which I believe is highly doubtful. The plaintiff’s attorney claimed that a key chain had pulled the weight of the keys down which would cause the switch to be pulled out of position, initiating the car to stall and cause an accident. General Motor’s attorney blamed ice as the probable cause in the accident, since there were no serious injuries or dents to the car, only a few minor scratches on the bumper.
Although a verdict has not been reached, I would not be surprised if the ignition switch in fact was the cause of the accident. In September of 2015, General Motors declared it had settled 1,385 death and injury cases for $275 million and a class-action shareholders’ lawsuit for $300 million. The company has given millions towards a numerous amount of claims. $600 million was paid to settle 399 claims to a fund GM established. 124 deaths, as well as 275 injuries were covered with those claims.
I feel that it was unethical of General Motors to continue selling their vehicles with the ignition switch defect. They claim they fixed it, but I do not believe it is something to fix that easily and quickly. There have been hundreds of deaths and injuries due to the ignition switch recall. They will always get business since vehicles will always be in demand, but I believe they should fix the ignition switch so that they wouldn’t have to deal with so many recalls, as well as have any deaths or injuries on their conscious.
Brianna is an accounting major at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2018.