Jury Finds GM Car ‘Unreasonably Dangerous’ Yet Awards $0
by
Joseph C. Maya on Jun. 09, 2017
Accident & Injury Products Liability Motor Vehicle Defect and Lemon Law
Summary: A blog post about a case involving a defected car, but no damages were awarded due to the accident at issue was not caused by the faulty ignition switch and instead caused by icy road conditions.
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Both sides proclaimed victory Wednesday after the first jury verdict in a General Motors ignition-switch case.
That’s because the jury, while finding a 2007 Saturn Sky unreasonably dangerous because of an ignition-switch defect, also found that the defect did not cause the plaintiff driver to lose control on an icy New Orleans bridge in 2014. Hence, it awarded no damages, reports theDetroit News.
“The jurors studied the merits of the case and saw the truth: this was a very minor accident that had absolutely nothing to do with the car’s ignition switch,” said GM said in a written statement. “The evidence was overwhelming that this accident—like more than 30 others that occurred in the same area that night—was caused by the driver losing control on an icy bridge during a state-wide winter weather emergency.”
Plaintiffs lawyer Randall Jackson said he wasn’t happy with the overall verdict. “But we’re pleased with the findings that the jury made with regard to the fact that our client’s car was unreasonably dangerous.”
Bloomberg, MLive.com and Reuters also have stories about the Manhattan federal court verdict, in one of six cases being tried for guidance on damages that might be awarded in consolidated litigation.
The first case, selected by plaintiffs, was voluntarily dismissed following claims of fraud.
Wednesday’s verdict, reached after two weeks of trial and a day of deliberation, came in a case selected by GM.
GM has admitted the defect, recalled millions of vehicles and agreed to pay $595 million to settle claims over 124 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Another $575 million went to settle shareholder and personal injury lawsuits, and the company agreed to pay $900 million to settle a criminal investigation by the feds.
At Maya Murphy, P.C., our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to achieving the best results for individuals and their family members and loved ones whose daily lives have been disrupted by injury, whether caused by a motor vehicle or pedestrian accident, a slip and fall, medical malpractice, a defective product, or otherwise. Our attorneys are not afraid to aggressively pursue and litigate cases and have extensive experience litigating personal injury matters in both state and federal courts, and always with regard to the unique circumstances of our client and the injury he or she has sustained.
Source: ABA Journal