Gm Loses Lawsuit

A jury ordered General Motors Corp. on Monday to pay $33 million to the family of a 13-year-old boy who was burned to death when the gas tank on the family car exploded in a bizarre 1991 accident.

Jurors agreed with the McGee family’s allegations that the lack of a protective shield over the gas tank turned their 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser into a potential bomb with the explosiveness of 100 sticks of dynamite.

Robert and Constance McGee were awarded $60 million in damages. Jurors said GM was 55 percent responsible for Shane McGee’s death, while the driver of the pickup was 45 percent responsible.