56 Fatalities Now Attributed to the GM Ignition Switch Scandal

Two weeks after the January 31, 2015 claims deadline passed for victims of the General Motors faulty ignition switch recall, the acknowledged death toll has risen from 50 to 56. Families of the 56 victims filed their cases with GM’s compensation fund, hoping to obtain justice for their lost loved ones whose GM vehicles were equipped with defective ignition switches that slipped out of the “on” position while being driven, disabling the car’s air bags and other safety features.  The severity of the massive recall is grave: of the over 4,000 injury or death claims submitted for compensation, 143 have been deemed eligible so far, with some 2,500 claims still under review.  478 claims were made involving deaths, 288 were made citing amputations or other severe injuries, and over 3,400 claims were submitted where the victims required hospitalization within 48 hours of the accident.