Regulator Didn’t Act on Evidence of Defective GM Air Bags
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Documents released in an investigation into an ignition switch flaw on some General Motors Co. cars have shed new light on the government’s decision not to act even as evidence of the fault now linked to 13 deaths was building.
With data showing the Chevrolet Cobalt had four times as many warranty claims over its air bags than competing vehicles, a review group at the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2007 overruled an investigator and determined there wasn’t enough of a pattern to open a formal probe.