GM scores legal win in faulty ignition switch case

US car maker General Motors claimed a legal victory after a Texas jury ruled that a faulty ignition switch was not responsible for a fatal crash in 2011.

The plaintiff had said a defective switch caused him to lose control of his car and hit another vehicle, a crash that left the other motorist dead.

"We asked the jury to evaluate Zach Stevens' case on the facts and they did," GM said in a released statement.

"What happened was simple and tragic: this was a high-speed side-impact crash on a wet road caused by an extremely reckless young man who tried to pass cars on the right shoulder and lost control."

GM has acknowledged selling cars with ignition switches so sensitive that slight jolts could stop the engine, lock the steering, or cut power to brakes or air bags.

The company initiated a recall of 2.6 million vehicles in 2014, a decade after the ignition flaw was detected.

GM has offered to compensate victims of accidents related to malfunctioning ignition switches, as long as requests were justified.

Thursday's court ruling is the third GM victory involving ignition switches since the beginning of the year. The first trial in January abruptly ended with the motorist withdrawing the complaint, and a jury ruled in favor of GM in a second trial in March.