Some of the more than $6 million General Motors paid a Cobb County couple to settle the lawsuit that identified a deadly ignition switch defect will be spent for safety research for cars.

Ken and Beth Melton have become sponsors of a nonprofit organization that compiles data on automobile safety complaints nationwide. The current edition of the Safety Institute’s Vehicle Safety Watch List discloses their investment and says it is being made in memory of their daughter, Brooke Melton.