Photo: General Motors
General Motors was cleared of any charges or blame regarding a fatal crash that occurred in 2011 with a 2007 Saturn Sky that was a part of the vehicles affected by the company’s ignition switch issue.
GM was cleared by a verdict made by a court in Harris County, Texas, and is the second of its kind this year for the company. Three cases against GM in the matter of the ignition switch ended favorable for the automaker, with this included.
The first of them went to trial, but was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs during the trial, while the other two cleared GM of liability.
The case that went to trial in Harris County involved a 2007 Saturn Vue whose driver had lost control and hit another vehicle, killing the other driver and injuring the plaintiff. General Motors said that reckless driving was to blame, and not the Saturn’s potentially faulty ignition switch.
The plaintiff was initially a defendant in this case, as manslaughter charges were filed against him, but these were dropped in 2014 after GM recalled 2.6 million vehicles with faulty ignition switches. It took the jury less than an hour to deliberate the case, and they decided unanimously for General Motors.
As Automotive News reports, a spokesperson for GM stated that all they did was to “ask the jury to evaluate Zach Stevens’ case on the facts,” which the representative said they did.
Jim Cain, the quoted GM spokesperson, underlined the fact that the incident had nothing to do with the ignition switch recall made by the American corporation.
The third case against GM outside of the class-action shareholder's lawsuit and the settlement already established by the company is considered a one of the “bellwethers” for this situation. Three more cases will target General Motors regarding accidents and claims linked to their faulty ignition switches.
The term bellwether refers to a trend, and is often used by legal specialists to refer to “tests” regarding other potential settlements and claims on the same matter.
If the bellwether cases drop in court, some legal representatives might not even attempt to file other actions against the corporation on in similar situations, as they might be dismissed.
The first of them went to trial, but was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs during the trial, while the other two cleared GM of liability.
The case that went to trial in Harris County involved a 2007 Saturn Vue whose driver had lost control and hit another vehicle, killing the other driver and injuring the plaintiff. General Motors said that reckless driving was to blame, and not the Saturn’s potentially faulty ignition switch.
The plaintiff was initially a defendant in this case, as manslaughter charges were filed against him, but these were dropped in 2014 after GM recalled 2.6 million vehicles with faulty ignition switches. It took the jury less than an hour to deliberate the case, and they decided unanimously for General Motors.
As Automotive News reports, a spokesperson for GM stated that all they did was to “ask the jury to evaluate Zach Stevens’ case on the facts,” which the representative said they did.
Jim Cain, the quoted GM spokesperson, underlined the fact that the incident had nothing to do with the ignition switch recall made by the American corporation.
The third case against GM outside of the class-action shareholder's lawsuit and the settlement already established by the company is considered a one of the “bellwethers” for this situation. Three more cases will target General Motors regarding accidents and claims linked to their faulty ignition switches.
The term bellwether refers to a trend, and is often used by legal specialists to refer to “tests” regarding other potential settlements and claims on the same matter.
If the bellwether cases drop in court, some legal representatives might not even attempt to file other actions against the corporation on in similar situations, as they might be dismissed.
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