Young Woman Unfairly Blamed for Crash Caused by GM Ignition Defect | Hillman Foundation

Clear It With Sidney

The best of the week’s news by Lindsay Beyerstein

Young Woman Unfairly Blamed for Crash Caused by GM Ignition Defect

For nearly a decade, Candice Anderson assumed she was to blame for the 2004 crash that killed her boyfriend. She was driving when the accident occurred and, because she had a trace of Xanax in her bloodstream, she even faced a manslaughter charge in connection with the accident.

Last week, Ms. Anderson learned that the crash had nothing to do with her driving. She lost control of her car because the vehicle had a defective ignition, a defect that the manufacturer, General Motors, did not disclose. Ms. Anderson’s boyfriend was one of 13 people who were killed because of this defect, the New York Times reports.

 

[Image Credit: Vintage GM ad, Alden Jewell, Creative Commons.]