WASHINGTON (AP) – The government’s auto safety agency should have discovered General Motors’ faulty ignition switches seven years before the company recalled 2.6 million cars to fix the deadly problem, a House committee majority charged Tuesday in a new report.
The report by Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee raised serious questions about the agency’s ability to keep the public safe as cars become more complex.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration misunderstood how vehicles worked, lacked accountability and failed to share information, according to the report, which was issued the same day that a Senate panel led by Democrats is scheduled to hold a hearing on the matter.
“It is tragic that the evidence was staring NHTSA in the face and the agency didn’t identify the warnings,” Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said in a statement. “NHTSA exists not just to process what the company finds, but to dig deeper. They failed.”
At least 19 people died in crashes caused by the faulty switches in GM small cars like the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion. The company acknowledges knowing about the problem for at least a decade, but it didn’t recall the cars until February. The delays caused numerous crashes that resulted in deaths and injuries. Lawmakers have said they expect the death toll to rise to near 100.