A disturbing report claims General Motors knew since 2004 about the Chevrolet Cobalt’s ignition switch problem that could shut off the engine while driving, as well as cut off the driver’s power steering and brakes, airbags and anti-lock brakes. The report from USA Today cites depositions in a civil lawsuit against GM, which last Thursday, recalled almost 780,000 Chevy Cobalts and Pontiac G5s for the same problem – that’s ten years later!
The newspaper obtained documents from the lawsuit over a crash that killed pediatric nurse Brooke Melton that say that at least one GM engineer had the problem, while testing the new car, which went on sale in 2004 as a 2005 model. Melton died in 2010 on her 29th birthday in the Cobalt she bought new in 2005.
So why did it take GM 10 years to recall the cars if it knew about the problem? That is a question lawmakers will definitely want an answer from the automaker, especially since GM created a snap-on key cover to try to help with the ignition issue and advised dealers in a 2005 technical service bulletin to install the part if owners complained.
However, it didn’t instruct dealers to put the new key cover on the keys of new Cobalts before they were sold. Melton’s car never got the key cover, and GM did not issue a recall for a mandatory fix until February 2014.
The woman had taken her car to a dealer for ignition switch problems and just picked it up the day before her fatal crash. GM settled the lawsuit by her estate, but the terms are confidential.
GM said in the recall announced last Thursday that it knows of at least six deaths in five Cobalt crashes as a result of airbags failing to deploy because of switch failure.
By Dan Mihalascu
PHOTO GALLERY
