GM Ignition Switch Death Count Reaches 90
The number of deaths officially acknowledged in the GM ignition switch scandal reached 90 today.
The compensation fund approved three new death claims, bringing the total to 90 and six new injury claims. There are a total of 163 approved injury claims so far including 11 for serious injuries including quadriplegia, paraplegia, double amputation, permanent brain damage, or pervasive burns.
Initially General Motors only officially linked 13 deaths to the defective ignition switches that led to 2.86 million vehicles being recalled. General Motors created the uncapped compensation fund to pay claims to victims of crashes linked to the defective parts. The Detroit manufacturer appointed attorney Kenneth Feinberg to manage the fund. Previously Feinberg oversaw the September 11 Victim Compensation fund.
In total, GM’s ignition switch compensation fund received 4,342 claims by the January 31 deadline. There are still 46 death claims under review and 951 injury claims.
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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From what I've been able to read on these crash reports, all occurred with key chains in excess of 5 lbs. I remember my drivers-ed from 30 years ago warning against heavy key chains being used in cars causing problems. So how do we get away with blaming GM now on lack of common sense that originated from decades ago not being used? Just seems odd to me.