Incompetence and delays in recognizing General Motors' ignition switch problems likely caused some lives.
David Sherpardson of the Detroit News reports that an internal report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sharply criticized the agency for its handling of the ignition switch recall of 2.6 million vehicles linked to 400 deaths. The agency's internal reports were released Friday.
The News writes:
The reports found NHTSA failed to hold the Detroit automaker accountable, didn’t understand alternate theories how the company’s air bags worked and didn’t follow up on trends in its own data sources and investigation.
The news of the incompetence of the agency hardly comes as a surprise.
An article in the New York Times in September 2014 reported:
An investigation by The New York Times into the agency’s handling of major safety defects over the past decade found that it frequently has been slow to identify problems, tentative to act and reluctant to employ its full legal powers against companies.
