Deaths linked to faulty GM switches up to 49

The number of deaths tied to faulty General Motors ignition switches is up to 49 as a compensation deadline looms for people hurt, or whose loved ones were killed, in wrecks involving defective GM ignition switches that can shut off airbags.

GM says that as of Jan. 15 it had repaired 1.26 million of the vehicles, or 64.8% of the 1.95 million small cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt that it recalled because the switches can fail and kill power to the engine and the airbags.

Including vehicles in Canada and Mexico, GM says the repair total is 1.51 million, or 64.2% of the 2.35 million recalled North American vehicles.

Initial recall numbers were higher, but GM determined that some cars were scrapped or otherwise no longer in service.

Most recalls for serious problems are pursued aggressively for at least 18 months. An 80% success rate at that time would be common.

GM spokesman Alan Adler says the repair rate is ahead of what GM has experienced in other cases. He says that GM believes more than 99% of owners have been notified of the recall, and that the rate continues to grow steadily, but it's impossible to predict a completion date.

The deadline to seek compensation on behalf of victims of crashes linked to defective switches is Jan. 31. The administrator of the compensation fund, noted compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg, has his own formula for deciding which deaths can legitimately be blamed on the faulty switches.

It differs from GM's calculation early in the recall process of 13 fatalities.That included only people in the front seats of GM cars involved in front-end crashes. Feinberg's approach is more expansive: any people in any seats in any vehicles involved in a collision related to the defective GM switches.

The switches were installed in Cobalt, Saturn Ion, Pontiac G5 and others from 2001 through 2011.

Feinberg says it could take several months after the deadline to finish paperwork and make payments.

The original deadline was Dec. 31, but that was extended.

Feinberg administers, independent of GM control, a victims' compensation fund that GM agreed to underwrite without limits on who gets paid, or how much. Feinberg also compensates people hurt in accidents related to the switches.

The fund reports that as of today, it has approved payments for 49 deaths out of 311 claims. Of those, another 49 were judged ineligible and the remainder are being evaluated.

Seven claims out of 207 have been approved for catastrophic, crippling injuries, another 37 have been rejected.

For lesser injuries, 65 claims have been approved out of 2,300, and 234 were rejected.

GM first knew of the switch problem in 2001 during development of the Saturn Ion small car. It showed up again in 2004 for engineers finalized the chevrolet Cobalt.

The word, however, wasn't widely circulated within GM, according to an outside investigation of the automaker by former U.S. attorney Anton Valukas.

And once it became better-known, GM engineers didn't understand the design of their own vehicles well enough to know the malfunction could shut off airbags.

GM eventually was fined the maximum $35 million by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failing to report the fault within five business days, as the law requires.

GM CEO Mary Barra was subjected to multiple grillings by Housa and Senate subcommittees.

The Justice Department began a probe of GM.

Lawsuits remain against GM by people who didn't want to settle for the compensation-fund settlement, or who believe their cars have lost value because of the recall's notoriety.

The company -- which has a reputation for seldom dismissing people -- axed 15 over the defect. And it had to write off $2.5 billion against 2015 earnings to cover the costs of the recall.