Better Data Would Have Started GM Recall Sooner: NHTSA

U.S. auto-safety regulators didn’t force General Motors Co. to recall 1.6 million cars sooner because the connection between defective ignition switches and failing air bags wasn’t clear, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

“If we had that information, if GM had provided us with timely information, we would have been able to take a different course with this,” David Friedman, acting administrator for NHTSA, said in an interview today in Washington.