Defects with your vehicle can cause crashes and serious injuries, so it’s not a surprise that when vehicles are recalled, there are many people who file claims for compensation. If you were hurt or in a crash because of a defect, then you could speak with an attorney about making a claim, too. That’s what this woman is doing, after a defect resulted in a crash that led to an amputation.
A woman in Connecticut is suing General Motors over a claim that she was trapped for days after her car’s defects caused her to crash. She claims that the car’s electronic power steering and stability controls failed, and this caused her vehicle to roll 140 feet over an embankment. That’s how she landed in an aspen grove.
After landing in the grove, the woman was not discovered for six days. She was trapped inside her vehicle, stranded. Her feet had been crushed, so she couldn’t leave the vehicle. She wrote messages for help on an umbrella in her vehicle; she put it out her window. Fortunately, someone passing the area saw a glare and discovered the wreckage. She lost the lower half of her legs in the crash, and she now requires prosthetics.
The tragedy of this woman’s story was that this could have been prevented. A recall from GM stated that those two elements of the vehicles, specifically her 2009 Chevrolet Malibu, were defective. GM had allegedly discovered the defects as long ago as 2008, making it questionable as to why it took until 2014 for the company to disclose the problems.
Source: CT Post, “Woman trapped for days after car crash sues General Motors,” Oct. 21, 2015