NY Times identifies 12 of the victims killed by GM’s faulty ignition switches

The New York Times today ran a major article looking into the people tragically killed by faulty ignition switches in General Motors vehicles.

The investigation, for the first time, put faces to the victims as well as telling the story of one woman who survived only to spend the last decade living with the mistaken anguish that she was to blame for the crash that killed her boyfriend.

The Times profiled Candice Anderson, who was behind the wheel when a recalled GM vehicle lost control in rural Texas and struck a tree, killing her boyfriend Gene Mikale Erickson. Anderson, tests showed, had barely a trace amount of Xanax in her blood but nonetheless was blamed for the death.

Earlier this year, GM announced massive recalls of 2.6 million vehicles because of faulty ignition switches that have been shown to unintentionally shut down the engine and disable power steering, power brakes and airbags even at highway speeds.

GM has linked the ignition switch problems to 13 deaths, but have refused to disclose the names of the victims or details of the accidents, even to some survivors and relatives of the deceased. GM recently confirmed to Erickson's mother that he was one of the 13.

"It's torn me up. I've always wondered, was it really my fault?" Anderson told The Times.

The New York Times has been able to identify 11 of the other 12 victims, and ran vignettes about their lives and the circumstances of their death.

The newspaper showed that the 12 victims died in 10 separate accidents in nine different states and Canada. The earliest of the crashes occurred July 4, 2004. The latest was on June 22, 2013.

The victims ranged in age from 13 to 81. The Times also found that all but one of the accidents were single-car crashes, in which the driver lost control of the vehicle and slammed head-on into an obstacle. The air bags failed to deploy in all of the accidents.

Ross Feller Casey, a leading national personal injury law firm, is evaluating lawsuits on behalf of motorists from across the country who have suffered serious injuries as a result of accidents in recalled GM vehicles.

If you or a loved one was injured in a recalled GM vehicle, you should contact the General Motors recall lawyers at Ross Feller Casey immediately. The firm offers a free case evaluation, and can let you know if you may be entitled to compensation from injuries incurred in a recalled vehicle.

For more information, go to www.rossfellercasey.com/practice-areas/general-motors-recall-lawsuits/