Texas judge to decide if recalled GM vehicles should be parked until fixed

A Texas judge is reportedly set to issue a decision that could force General Motors to warn customers against driving recalled vehicles until their defective ignition switches are replaced.

The company has repeatedly claimed that the recalled vehicles are safe as long as drivers do not have any extra weight on the ignition key, however safety advocates and families of accident victims argue that all of the affected models should be taken off the road.

US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos is currently considering the park-it request, which was filed by plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit that seeks to recover as much as $10 billion to compensate for reduced resale values for all of the recalled vehicles.

“While GM proposes partial fixes, additional incidents of ignition switch failures will certainly occur,” the plaintiffs wrote, as quoted by Bloomberg. “Injuries and fatalities are the inevitable consequence of such additional accidents.”

The case in Corpus Christi is said to similar to more than a dozen other lawsuits filed by owners who accuse the company of hiding the defect for more than a decade. Other lawsuits focus on wrongful-death claims or accuse the company of securities fraud.

GM has admitted that the issue was not properly addressed, though it suggests the problem was a lack of communication rather than a willful deception. Legislators have accused the company of establishing a “culture of cover-up,” however, that may warrant criminal prosecution.

CEO Mary Barra yesterday promised to provide further details regarding the company’s internal tests that determined the switches are safe when used with just the key. Engineers overseeing the assessment are also expected to be made available for future Senate and House hearings.