US bill to make automakers’ safety data public

26 Mar 2014

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Two US senators investigating the delayed General Motors Co recall over faulty ignition switches are pushing for making warranty claims, injuries and other automaker data about potential defects available to the public.

Democratic senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut yesterday introduced legislation providing for public disclosure of the information collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a searchable, user-friendly format.

''A massive information breakdown at NHTSA has led to deadly vehicle breakdowns on our roads,'' Markey said in a statement today. ''We need the early warning reporting system to provide actual early warnings to ensure the public is informed.''

GM's recalls last month come after years of internal deliberation among company engineers about whether a known mechanical shortcoming could be a safety defect (See: Regulators slammed for not taking quick action over faulty GM vehicles).

GM decided in February to recall 1.4 million US cars, including some models of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5, as the ignition keys that get jostled or bumped could cause stalling of engines or failure of deployment of air bags in accidents.

NHTSA had been criticised for inadequate follow up on crash investigations that documented the ignition-switch issue. GM was asked by agency officials about one of the crash reports in a 2007 meeting, but no follow up investigation into defects was undertaken.

The bill introduced by Markey and Edwards would require automobile manufacturers to provide more information about fatal accidents involving their vehicles and better public access to those reports.

On 1 April, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is set to hold its first hearing into GM's handling of last month's recall of 1.6 million cars involving faulty ignition switches.

The recalls followed more than a decade after the safety issue first came to the auto maker's attention.

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