We were following the Demanda por interruptor de encendido de GM in April 2018 when we reached a big development. As General Motors has come under fire for its failure to deal with a faulty ignition switch in many of its vehicles, some allegedly being the root of some accidents, a U.S. jury found General Motors’ ignition switch to be defective, but the cause of a 2014 car accident in which two plaintiffs said they were injured. This was only the verdict in a two-week trial in Manhattan federal court, and it was the first of many involving an accident blamed on GM’s faulty switch.

So what happened? Well, the jury decided that the plaintiff’s vehicle, a Saturn Sky, was too dangerous to drive due to its defective switch, but they found no evidence that the accident was actually caused by ignition failure. Instead, they decided it was due to poor road conditions, such as ice.

It’s not a complete victory for GM, however, since this is only one of six so-called trials being conducted against G.M., and this issue affects about 2.6 million vehicles equipped with ignition switches that could potentially cut engine power and disable airbags. Each of the cases is consolidated in New York, with one being dismissed outright in January due to misleading testimony from the plaintiff. Reasonable doubt was found in this instance since evidence uncovered pointed to severe weather as the cause of the accident.

Los representantes de GM dijeron lo siguiente en el New York Times:

“Los jurados estudiaron los méritos del caso y vieron la verdad. Fue un accidente muy leve que no tuvo absolutamente nada que ver con el interruptor de encendido del automóvil”.

Meanwhile, Randall Jackson, lawyer for the plaintiffs, objected to the outcome in the Associated Press,

“Definitivamente no estamos de acuerdo con el veredicto general, pero estamos satisfechos con las conclusiones a las que llegó el jurado con respecto al hecho de que el automóvil de nuestro cliente era irrazonablemente peligroso”.

Esto ha ayudado a defender a GM, ya que podría liberarlos de algunos de los 235 casos de lesiones y muerte por negligencia que están pendientes en los tribunales estatales y federales en su contra. El próximo caso que está previsto que vaya a juicio está previsto para este mes de mayo.

Overall, the litigation in these cases is a big part of GM’s efforts to move past one of the worst safety crises in its company’s history. Two years ago, GM admitted that they failed for a decade to fix millions of small cars with faulty ignition switches. It was made public that 15 employees were fired, their engineering operations and department underwent a big overhaul, and more than 30 million vehicles were recalled.

Desde entonces, GM ha pagado más de 1,5 millones de chelines kenianos (1,6 millones de dólares) para resolver 399 demandas relacionadas con interruptores de encendido, incluidos 124 casos de muerte. Mientras tanto, también anunció un acuerdo de 1,5 millones de chelines kenianos (2,7 millones de dólares) en concepto de daños y perjuicios por 1,385 casos de muerte y lesiones, con un pago de 1,5 millones de chelines kenianos (3,0 millones de dólares) para resolver una demanda colectiva interpuesta por los accionistas de GM.

Sólo el año pasado, el fabricante de automóviles acordó pagar 1,5 billones de dólares tras la investigación penal realizada por el Departamento de Justicia. Esto se sumó a las multas impuestas por el Departamento de Transporte. GM ahora también tiene que lidiar con el monitoreo a largo plazo de sus prácticas de seguridad por parte de los reguladores gubernamentales. Uno de los reguladores es la Administración Nacional de Seguridad del Tráfico en las Carreteras, que inicialmente no actuó ante los informes de accidentes que involucraron vehículos GM equipados con interruptores de encendido defectuosos.

Will GM ever be able to move past this incident? Time will tell. However, this court victory does leave that within the realm of possibility.