Woman Blamed In Fiance’s Death Learns GM Ignition Switch At Fault
A Texas woman is suing General Motors after discovering that the deadly crash for which she was blamed was caused by a faulty ignition switch, according to The Daily Mail.
Candice Anderson has believed for 10 years that the 2004 crash, which killed her fiance, Mikale Erickson, was her fault. The Saturn Ion in which the couple was riding veered off the road and hit a tree in November 2004, killing Erickson, who was 25, and ejecting Anderson, 21 at the time. Anderson suffered severe injuries, and the airbags did not deploy in the crash, CBS News reports. There were no skidmarks left on the road, but Anderson had a small amount of Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication, in her system. Authorities believed Anderson was at fault, charging her with manslaughter. She pleded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to 5 years of deferred punishment, 260 hours of community service, and shouldered the burden of court fees.
Shockingly, it wasn’t until this past May that Anderson finally learned the truth: Erickson’s death is one of 13 linked to GM’s recall of faulty ignition switches. Erickson’s mother, Rhonda, contacted the National Transportation Safety Board, and the agency confirmed to her in a letter that her son’s death was one of the 13 cases that precipitated the recall. The car manufacturer has yet to reach out to either Anderson or the grieving mother, who says that though GM can’t bring back her son, “they could at least give me an apology.”
Anderson’s suit alleges that the real cause of the crash was the faulty ignition switch, which, when knocked out of the proper position, compromises the power steering and brakes, also disabling the airbags. In that situation, the vehicle’s electrical power is cut, placing driver and passengers in a potentially life-threatening situation.
As The Inquisitr has previously reported, GM has now admitted to knowing about the ignition switch issue for a chilling ten years before taking action to correct the situation. The ignition switch issue reportedly affected over 2.6 million vehicles, and led to GM’s CEO being grilled before lawmakers. Comedy Central host John Stewart even devoted a segment to the issue, in which he joked that GM could have fixed the switches for the cost of change found in the vehicles, just 57 cents each.
Erickson’s mother also contends that Anderson’s criminal record should be wiped clean, now that it can be proved that the faulty ignition switch was to blame for her son’s death.
[Images via The New York Times and CBS News]
