Texas Woman Cleared In Death In GM Recalled Car
On Monday, a judge from Texas disorganized the 2007 guilty appeal of a 30-year-old woman in the death of her fiancé in the crash of a Saturn Ion driven by her.
The vehicle had a broken lock switch which is now linked to many crash deaths, and for the same reason, General Motors has recalled around 2.5 million cars.
In November 2004, Candice Anderson was driving a Saturn Ion when her vehicle suddenly changed its direction to rural east Texas road and then landed into a tree nearby. In the crash, the air bags present inside the vehicle did not deploy and due to this, her fiancé, Gene Mikale Erickson, who was sitting on the passenger seat, died.
Anderson served five years of probation as she was charged in the crash. Anderson was proven guilty of homicide due to ignorance and she performed 260 hours of community service. She also paid $2,500 in fines.
Anderson believed that she was responsible for the death of her fiancé and she also spent a guilt-racked decade. This was before knowing that it was due to the failure of the bags that may have caused this as there was a defect in the ignition switch, now known to be a safety defect.
The ruling that abolished her appeal and also cleared her record, was made by Van Zandt County District Judge Teresa Drum.
The Erickson’s family has filed a complaint with the General Motors recall fund being executed by compensation of (Ken Feinberg) the expert. According to Lauren Gomez of the Texas law firm Hilliard Munoz & Gonzales, the claim was approved and found to be eligible for at least $1 million compensation but the actual amount was not disclosed by Gomez.
Robert Hilliard, on Monday represented a large number of individuals of more than 2.5 million GM cars that are covered by the recall of ignition locks. According to the letter, it has been said that Anderson’s vehicle was covered by the ignition switch recall and it has also been said to be the specific cause of the death of her fiancé.
Godfrey said, “First, the 2004 Saturn Ion driven by Ms. Anderson on the date of the accident was a vehicle that would have been subject to the Ignition Switch Recall issued by New GM in February 2014”. According to him, “Second, New GM confirms that New GM has determined that the crash involving Ms. Anderson is one in which the recall condition may have caused or contributed to the frontal air bag non-deployment in the accident”.
Both Anederson and Erickson were not wearing seat belts when the incident happened. Anderson was basically charged with intoxicated vehicular manslaughter due to the reason that she had 0.12 per liter of Alprazola. While driving, Texas has no limits of driving under influence of drugs.
The company said in a statement that GM did not contest Anderson’s effort to have her conviction overturned. “GM will cooperate fully by providing information the court requests to assist it in making a decision in this matter. Issues being discussed in this case are for local law enforcement and the courts to consider, and in a courtroom they are separate issues from the performance of the vehicle”.
According to the aim of repayment, Feinberg figured out the claim that is based on the contribution of the defect of the ignition rather than considering the negligence of the driver.
On Monday, the office announced that the death toll has been accepted for repayment in the ignition recalls and has been raised to thirty five.
News Source: Online.WSJ.com
