ignition switches New GM trial starts

Associated Press

NEW YORK

At a trial aimed at aiding the settlement of lawsuits, a plaintiffs’ lawyer told a jury in his opening statement Monday that a General Motors faulty ignition switch was to blame for a 2014 accident on an icy Louisiana bridge, and a GM lawyer said the company was not at fault.

The trial in Manhattan federal court came just weeks after another trial meant to define legal boundaries for hundreds of lawsuits ended abruptly without a verdict.

The flood of litigation commenced when GM revealed that it had continued to sell flawed cars after discovering an ignition-switch defect in Chevy Cobalts and other small cars. Since early 2014, it has issued recalls affecting more than 30 million vehicles.

The switches can slip out of the “on” position, causing the cars to stall, knocking out power steering and turning off air bags. GM says it has fixed the problem.

Randall Jackson, a lawyer for a man and woman involved in the accident on a busy New Orleans bridge, urged jurors to hold GM accountable, saying the car’s ignition switch contributed to the accident when she lost her steering and brakes.

But he spent most of his opening statement focusing jurors on the company’s failure for a decade to alert the public that it had identified the ignition-switch defect.