Regulators slammed for not taking quick action over faulty GM vehicles

Federal regulators faced flak yesterday for not acting quickly on evidence that faulty ignition switches in some General Motors cars were killing the engine and not letting the air bags inflate during accidents, contributing to 13 deaths.

Consumer advocates - including Joan Claybrook, a former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) chief asked the agency as to why it failed to demand that GM recall cars after learning as early as 2007 that in case of an ignition defect a vehicle might stall inadvertently disabling its air bags.

''While GM bears complete responsibility for failing to recall these vehicles by 2005, when it knew what the defect was and how to fix it, NHTSA has responsibility for failing to order a recall by early 2007, when it knew what the effect was and how to fix it,'' Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, wrote to NHSTA calling for an investigation of of the agency's response. The centre, along with several other groups, is also calling for a congressional investigation.

NHTSA officials in defence of the agency's actions said, they had long been concerned about potential stalling.

Though the agency initiated probes into suspicious crashes caused by the faulty switches, investigators failed to find the root cause of the accidents.

The Detroit News reported that General Motors Co for years collected numerous warning signs from customers and employees about problems with Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions pertaining to engines stalling and ignition switches moving to ''accessory'' or ''off'' while driving.

In one complaint, a Maryland resident said he almost crashed into a tractor-trailer in his 2005 Cobalt. Another, a mother five months pregnant who was driving with a 5-year-old - bought a 2005 Cobalt and shortly thereafter reported, a lock up of the vehicle's steering column which caused it to spin out of control.

According to court records, the auto maker bought back at least 13 2005-06 Chevy Cobalts from customers who had reported engine stalling or power loss since spring 2005.

This  came from a June 2013 deposition of GM senior manager/consultant Victor Hakim, who worked in a department that assessed vehicles.