Colorado woman trapped for days in Park County car crash sues GM, Kristin Hopkins spent more than two months in a hospital following a near-fatal crash that left her crushed and trapped upside down in her car for nearly a week.
She was back at her Highlands Ranch home learning to use her new prosthetics — her legs had been amputated at the knee — when she received a recall notice for her 2009 Chevy Malibu.
Hopkins had one thought as she read the letter from General Motors.
"That explains a lot," she said.
On Tuesday, Hopkins filed a lawsuit against the automaker in federal court claiming that her car's electronic stability control "failed to engage" and the car's electronic power steering "gave out" on Red Hill Pass on April 27, 2014. Because of these malfunctions, the suit states that Hopkins, 45, was "deprived of these crash avoidance systems at the moment she needed them most."
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that based on documents GM provided the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the company first learned of the problem with the electronic stability control on the Malibu in 2008 — six years before Hopkins' accident."My life is completely changed because of all this," said Hopkins, who hasn't been able to work since the crash. "Could I have changed what happened? No. Could (GM) have changed what happened? Yes."
GM on Tuesday didn't specifically comment on the lawsuit's claims but in a statement said it would "investigate this matter and work to understand what happened and why."
The automaker has been embroiled in high-profile legal trouble over vehicle recalls since last year, when defective ignition switches were blamed for at least 169 deaths. Evidence emerged in that case that GM knew about the problem for a decade before finally issuing a recall.
The scandal could end up costing the company more than $5.3 billion in fines and victim compensation.
Hopkins' attorney, Kurt Zaner, said his client's case is "more of the same" from GM.
He and Hopkins hope the lawsuit will prod Chevy customers with recall notices on their kitchen tables to get the necessary repairs done. But more important, Zaner said, they hope it will prompt GM and other carmakers to be more transparent about potential vehicle defects and quicker about publicizing them.
"These are real lives being affected by corporate decisions," he said. "Maybe this teaches GM a lesson — don't wait so long to issue a recall."
Zaner said the problems with his client's Malibu were encompassed in two recall notices from GM — both of which were issued after her crash.
The first, in July 2014, stated that because of a problem with the car's body control module, "traction control, electronic stability control and panic braking assist features ... may be disabled."
Then just last month, Hopkins received a notice stating that there was a possibility the electronic power steering could fail.
"The fact that the power steering recall came out just a few weeks ago leads you to ask, 'What else is wrong with this car?' " Zaner said.
She was back at her Highlands Ranch home learning to use her new prosthetics — her legs had been amputated at the knee — when she received a recall notice for her 2009 Chevy Malibu.
Hopkins had one thought as she read the letter from General Motors.
"That explains a lot," she said.
On Tuesday, Hopkins filed a lawsuit against the automaker in federal court claiming that her car's electronic stability control "failed to engage" and the car's electronic power steering "gave out" on Red Hill Pass on April 27, 2014. Because of these malfunctions, the suit states that Hopkins, 45, was "deprived of these crash avoidance systems at the moment she needed them most."
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that based on documents GM provided the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the company first learned of the problem with the electronic stability control on the Malibu in 2008 — six years before Hopkins' accident."My life is completely changed because of all this," said Hopkins, who hasn't been able to work since the crash. "Could I have changed what happened? No. Could (GM) have changed what happened? Yes."
GM on Tuesday didn't specifically comment on the lawsuit's claims but in a statement said it would "investigate this matter and work to understand what happened and why."
The automaker has been embroiled in high-profile legal trouble over vehicle recalls since last year, when defective ignition switches were blamed for at least 169 deaths. Evidence emerged in that case that GM knew about the problem for a decade before finally issuing a recall.
The scandal could end up costing the company more than $5.3 billion in fines and victim compensation.
Hopkins' attorney, Kurt Zaner, said his client's case is "more of the same" from GM.
He and Hopkins hope the lawsuit will prod Chevy customers with recall notices on their kitchen tables to get the necessary repairs done. But more important, Zaner said, they hope it will prompt GM and other carmakers to be more transparent about potential vehicle defects and quicker about publicizing them.
"These are real lives being affected by corporate decisions," he said. "Maybe this teaches GM a lesson — don't wait so long to issue a recall."
Zaner said the problems with his client's Malibu were encompassed in two recall notices from GM — both of which were issued after her crash.
The first, in July 2014, stated that because of a problem with the car's body control module, "traction control, electronic stability control and panic braking assist features ... may be disabled."
Then just last month, Hopkins received a notice stating that there was a possibility the electronic power steering could fail.
"The fact that the power steering recall came out just a few weeks ago leads you to ask, 'What else is wrong with this car?' " Zaner said.
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