GM Settles Suits Over Fatal Pickup Crashes : Autos: The claimants had said several models were prone to explode. The car maker says the trucks are safe.

General Motors Corp. has settled four lawsuits that claim several models of its pickup trucks with side-mounted gasoline tanks are prone to explode.

One of the cases had brought a $105.2-million verdict, which ranked among the biggest product liability awards in U.S. history. The award was reversed on appeal and the case is to be retried next week.

The auto maker settled the four cases after a federal judge in Oklahoma issued an order that undermined its defense in a trial there. GM said the order did not affect its decision to settle the cases.

The judge’s ruling meant that GM would have to rely solely on testimony from witnesses, without using charts or other exhibits considered crucial for a complex trial.

In one of the settled cases, a Fulton County, Ga., jury had in 1993 awarded Thomas and Elaine Moseley $105.2 million. Two cases in Oklahoma and one in Kansas were also settled. Terms of the settlements, which must be approved by the courts, were not disclosed.

In a statement Monday, GM maintained the trucks are safe. “The cumulative safety record of these trucks readily vindicates the decisions of the GM engineers who designed them and the millions of individuals who bought or drove them,” the auto maker said.

Shannon Moseley, 17, was killed in 1989 when the truck he was driving--a gift from his parents--was struck by a drunken driver. The truck burst into flames, killing the teen-ager, witnesses said.

The family alleged that GM, despite warnings from engineers, produced millions of model C/K pickups with gasoline tanks mounted on the side of the vehicle frame. Most pickups have the gas tank in the middle of the frame.

GM argued that the other driver was speeding and the impact of the crash caused the explosion. Moseley was dead before the explosion, GM said.

The Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the Moseley verdict, saying their lawyer made improper references to other cases involving the pickups.

In one of the Oklahoma cases, U.S. District Judge Michael Burrage disallowed GM’s exhibits as punishment for disobeying court orders regarding pretrial evidence.

Bob Bishop was suing GM over the 1993 death of his son, Shawn, 22, whose 1979 Chevrolet pickup struck a bridge railing on a foggy morning. The elder Bishop said the collision ruptured the fuel tank and his son died trying to crawl through the windshield.

The other cases were Wilson vs. General Motors in Tulsa, Okla., and Cockrum vs. General Motors in Wichita, Kan. About 50 other lawsuits against GM are pending over its C/K model pickups.