A jury yesterday declined to link what it found to be a defective ignition switch in a General Motors car to an accident on an icy New Orleans bridge, Law.com reported today. Handing a setback to plaintiffs seeking to hold GM liable for switches that can be jostled or jarred into the accessory or off position, causing a loss of power brakes and steering, jurors took less than five hours to clear the company of liability for the alleged injuries to driver Dionne Spain and passenger Lawrence Barthelemy. Spain’s 2007 Saturn Sky spun out of control and hit a Jersey barrier on the Crescent City Connection Bridge on Jan. 24, 2014. The Sky was one of a number of GM models with defective ignition switches that forced the company to issue a massive recall and pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
