GM ignition switch death toll rises

GM's compensation fund administrator has announced that the death toll from the company's defective ignition switch has risen by seven more fatalities from a week earlier to 74, according to a story in Automotive News.

The office of attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who is overseeing victim compensation on GM's behalf, had approved 74 death claims and 126 injury claims as of March 20, according to an update released on March 23.

The deadline for victims to file claims was Jan. 31. Feinberg's office is expected to continue processing them until late spring or early summer.

GM hired Feinberg to compensate victims last year amid its recall of the faulty switch, which can be jarred out of the run position, cutting power to the power steering, brakes and airbags. A person seeking compensation must prove that the airbag did not deploy, and must show that the defective switch was the primary factor in the crash.

A GM-backed investigation last year found that several engineers and attorneys were aware of the problem for as long as a decade but did not elevate the issue to the top levels of the company.

Feinberg's office had received 4,342 claims as of March 20. Of those, 200 were deemed eligible. Another 1,326 still are under review.

GM estimated that it will pay out $400 million ($508,232,281 AUD) to $600 million ($762,431,899 AUD) in compensation through the Feinberg process.