Woman Sues GM for Crash That Left Her Trapped for 6 Days

Safety recall notices for her 2009 Malibu came too late
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 21, 2015 5:00 PM CDT
Woman Sues GM for Crash That Left Her Trapped for 6 Days
Kristin Hopkins, who was trapped in her Chevy Malibu for six days following a crash in 2014, filed a lawsuit against General Motors this week.   (AP Photo/Park County Sheriff’s Office)

A mother of four who lost both legs below the knees and suffered a traumatic brain injury after being stuck in her 2009 Chevrolet Malibu for six days following a crash filed a lawsuit against General Motors Tuesday. NBC 9 reports Kristin Hopkins lost control of her car while driving along a Colorado highway in 2014, went off a 120-foot cliff, and landed upside down in a wooded area 200 feet away. She was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia when she was rescued by passersby six days later. Two months after her accident, she got the first recall notice from GM for her Malibu, according to ABC News. Another recall notice came a few weeks ago. NBC reports the recalls covered power steering and safety systems related to "crash avoidance," both of which the lawsuit claims failed during Hopkins' crash.

“We think that had these failures not occurred, then this crash wouldn’t have happened,” Hopkins' attorney, Kurt Zaner, tells ABC. “GM knew about these problems, they knew they put an unsafe car on the road, and they acted entirely too late to try and correct that failure." Hopkins is suing GM for negligence, NBC reports. According to ABC, the lawsuit accuses the carmaker of “[inadequate] quality control measures and using inappropriate manufacturing practices." In response to the lawsuit, GM released a statement saying it is investigating the "tragic accident." (A couple stopped to take photos at a scenic Utah overlook when they stumbled across a woman trapped in her car for two days.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X