— A GM Canada class action lawsuit alleges multiple vehicles are equipped with defective airbag control units that cause failures of the airbags and seat belt pretensioners.
The Canadian lawsuit includes these vehicles.
- 2007-2014 GMC Acadia
- 1998-2000, 2002-2009 GMC Envoy
- 1999-2014 GMC Yukon
- 2000-2014 GMC Yukon XL
- 2010-2014 GMC Terrain
- 2004-2014 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2008-2014 Chevrolet Traverse
- 2014-2015 Chevrolet Trax
- 1994-2014 Chevrolet Tahoe
- 2001-2009 Chevrolet Trailblazer
- 1999-2004 Chevrolet Tracker
- 1999-2004 Chevrolet Blazer
- 1999-2000 Chevrolet C1500
- 2000-2007 Chevrolet GMT800
- 1999-2000 Chevrolet K1500
- 1999-2000 Chevrolet Sierra
- 1998-2014 Chevrolet Silverado
- 1999-2014 Chevrolet Suburban
- 1999-2005 Chevrolet Astro
- 2008-2014 Buick Enclave
- 2012-2014 Buick Encore
- 2004-2014 Buick Rainer
- 1998-2000, 2002 - 2014 Cadillac Escalade
- 2007-2014 Cadillac Escalade ESV
- 2009-2013 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid
- 2004-2014 Cadillac SRX
- 1998-2004 lsuzu Amigo
- 2002-2008 lsuzu Ascender
- 2001-2004 Isuzu Axiom
- 1998-2004 Isuzu Rodeo
- 1999-2002 Isuzu Trooper
- 1999-2001 Isuzu VehiCROSS
- 2003-2014 Isuzu H-Series
The GM Canada class action lawsuit was filed by a plaintiff who purchased a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 in April 2005. The lawsuit doesn't allege the plaintiff's truck suffered any airbag or seat belt pretensioner failures, but the plaintiff says his 16-year-old truck has lost value because of the sensing and diagnostic module.
Also called the airbag control unit, the module is connected to sensors placed all over the vehicle and is used to deploy the airbags and seat belt pretensioners in a crash.
However, the class action, which includes all consumers in Canada except the Province of Quebec, says the sensing and diagnostic modules have software calibration defects. The alleged defects cause failures of the airbags and seat belt pretensioners to deploy when they are needed the most.
The lawsuit alleges a typical "crash duration" of a frontal vehicle-to-barrier collision lasts about 80-150 milliseconds (0.08-0.15 seconds). But the General Motors airbag control unit was allegedly calibrated to prevent deployment of the airbags and pretensioners 45 milliseconds after a crash has begun.
This means the module was allegedly calibrated not to deploy the airbags after 45 milliseconds even if the module continues to receive crash information for up to 80-150 milliseconds.
According to the plaintiff, this is a problem in real-world crashes that last more than 45 milliseconds where multiple impacts occur.
GM allegedly knows about the airbag control units and knows customers are in danger, but the class action claims the automaker has concealed the defects to avoid the cost to order a recall.
GM also allegedly continues to claim the vehicles are safe even though hundreds of customers have complained about airbags that failed to deploy.
The GM Canada class action lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia: William Arthur Baldridge, v. General Motors Company, et al.
The plaintiff is represented by Garcha & Company.
