Deadline passes for claims over faulty GM ignition switches.

The AP (2/3, Krisher) reports that “the families of 51 people who died in crashes caused by faulty” GM ignition switches will receive money from the GM compensation fund, with another 77 to receive money for injuries, according to compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg. The deadline for filing claims fell on Saturday, and as of Sunday there were “455 death claims and 3,447 for injuries.” Some are calling for GM to extend the deadline, “because victims do not know yet whether they can sue General Motors Co., the new company that emerged from bankruptcy protection in July 2009.”

        The CBS Evening News (2/2, story 5, 2:30, Glor, 5.08M) reported, Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are asking GM to reconsider the deadline, “as over a third of the vehicles are still not fixed.”

        USA Today (2/2, Healey, 10.32M) reports that GM’s count of victims “only included people in the front seats who would have been protected, presumably,” if not for the defective switches, and only those driving or riding in models that were specifically recalled