Photo: Chevrolet
See that friggin' Chevrolet Cobalt in the image above? That's one of the models that brought the fall from grace of New GM, the same New GM that promised to be a better company after the shameful bailout of 2009. The Cobalt and other models equipped with faulty ignition switches are the reason General Motors has to pay up.
From the 4,343 filed claims, outside attorney and GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility head honcho Kenneth Roy Feinberg approved 399 as being eligible for compensation. Of the grand total, 124 are for deaths, 17 are for Category One injuries, and 258 are for those who sustained Category Two injuries. Curious what these two categories mean? Prepare for quite a big shocker.
As it happens, Category One is short for physical injuries that resulted in quadriplegia, paraplegia, double amputation, permanent brain damage, and pervasive burns. In essence, the nastiest of injuries. As for Category Two, these are physical injuries that required hospitalization within 48 hours of the crash. So how much compensation does General Motors have to pay for the switches that brought so much suffering?
"More than $600 million," we're told by none other than General Motors itself. This sum is the equivalent of the base 2016 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible multiplied 10,000 times. A considerable compensation tally, I'll give General Motors that, but this mountain of greenback isn't the end of ignition switch-related trouble.
Other than the previously mentioned, General Motors will have to pay a whopping $900 million fine, courtesy of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. If the peeps from General Motors pay the fine, the U.S. government will defer prosecution of charges against the company related to the ignition switch defect and recall for 3 years. If GM stays true to the terms of the agreement, prosecutors will seek dismissal of the charges with prejudice. How about that?
General Motors CEO Mary Barra commented: “Reaching an agreement with the Justice Department does not mean we are putting the issue behind us." Pinky swear, dear Mary and GM? We wish to believe that these words are sincere, yet only time will tell if post-ignition switch scandal GM has learned its lesson.
As it happens, Category One is short for physical injuries that resulted in quadriplegia, paraplegia, double amputation, permanent brain damage, and pervasive burns. In essence, the nastiest of injuries. As for Category Two, these are physical injuries that required hospitalization within 48 hours of the crash. So how much compensation does General Motors have to pay for the switches that brought so much suffering?
"More than $600 million," we're told by none other than General Motors itself. This sum is the equivalent of the base 2016 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible multiplied 10,000 times. A considerable compensation tally, I'll give General Motors that, but this mountain of greenback isn't the end of ignition switch-related trouble.
Other than the previously mentioned, General Motors will have to pay a whopping $900 million fine, courtesy of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. If the peeps from General Motors pay the fine, the U.S. government will defer prosecution of charges against the company related to the ignition switch defect and recall for 3 years. If GM stays true to the terms of the agreement, prosecutors will seek dismissal of the charges with prejudice. How about that?
General Motors CEO Mary Barra commented: “Reaching an agreement with the Justice Department does not mean we are putting the issue behind us." Pinky swear, dear Mary and GM? We wish to believe that these words are sincere, yet only time will tell if post-ignition switch scandal GM has learned its lesson.
Google News