The number of victim compensation claims filed against General Motors for its faulty ignition switches exceeded 4,000 before the deadline on Sunday morning.
General Motors has been aware of the faulty ignition switches for more than a decade, but only recalled problematic vehicles last year, the Washington Post reported.
General Motors expects compensation for families of victims of faulty ignition switches will not exceed the estimated fund of $600 million.
When a car key is inserted and turned, the ignition switch is designed to adjust the ignition setting. A small spring — called a detent plunger — secures the ignition settings. However, some GM-manufactured detent plungers were too short, providing insufficient tension so that the ignition settings would easily switch from ‘run’ to ‘accessory’. Under such settings, airbags will not deploy in a crash.
GM recalled 2.6 million vehicles with defective ignition switches. The latest figure shows that a total of 51 people died in accidents related to the faulty part.
The automaker filed for bankruptcy and was bailed out in 2009. A federal bankruptcy court will decide whether the new General Motors that emerged as a result of bankruptcy protection has a legal responsibility for claims that predated bankruptcy filing.
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