National Public Radio (NPR) recently aired a story about a journalist’s harrowing experience test-driving a General Motors (GM) Cobalt. While racing around the track, the car’s engine, and all its steering mechanisms, suddenly shut off. After the journalist managed to slow the car to halt, a GM engineer determined that just a light tug on the ignition switch could turn off the engine.
The journalist must have inadvertently jostled the switch while he drove. The result gave him a glimpse of what would later happen to the drivers who lost control of their vehicles in the middle of intersections and on busy highways and winding roads.
The incident described on NPR occurred in 2004. GM did not recall cars that contained the faulty ignition switch until 2014. By then, 31 crashes and 13 deaths had been linked to the defective auto part. Since the beginning of this year, GM has recalled 2.6 million vehicles due to faulty ignition.
Also this year, GM recalled 1.3 million cars because of a faulty steering device. Faulty gearshifts prompted the recall of an additional 60,000 cars.
The following are the models and years of some of the GM vehicles that have been recalled:
- Chevrolet Cobalt, 2005 to 2010
- Chevrolet HHR, 2006 to 2011
- Chevrolet Malibu, 2004 to 2009
- Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, 2004 to 2006
- Pontiac G5, 2007 to 2010
- Pontiac G6, 2005 to 2009
- Pontiac Solstice, 2006 to 2010
- Saturn Aura, 2007 to 2009
- Saturn Ion, 2003 to 2007
- Saturn Sky, 2007 to 201
Toyota has exceeded GM in the number of defective automobiles. In early April, Toyota Motor Corporation announced the recall of six million vehicles in 30 different models distributed in Japan, Europe and the United States. Faulty seats and airbags were among the causes.
Models and years of Toyota automobiles affected by recalls in the United States include:
- Corolla, 2009 to 2010
- Matrix, 2009 to 2010
- Highlander, 2008 to 2010
- Tacoma, 2009 to 2010
- RAV4, 2006 to 2008
- Yaris, 2006 to 2010
- Scion xD, 2008 to 2010
It is possible that your vehicle may contain a defective auto part that has not yet been reported. If you were injured in a traffic collision, let an Ohio auto accident attorney investigate your case to help determine if a defective part was responsible.
