Massachusetts senator says highway safety agency "fell down" in GM investigation

Laura Christian's 16-year-old daughter, Amber, died inside a Chevy Cobalt, on July 29, 2005.
"I went downstairs and my phone rang," Christian recalled. "Amber had been in an accident and she didn't make it."
It is the first death linked to General Motor's faulty ignition recall, involving one and a half million GM cars.

A defect in the ignition that can cause the engine to cut off is linked to 31 crashes and 13 deaths."When you lose your daughter whether you're the first one, or whether you're the last one, she's still gone and it's still their fault for not fixing the problem," Christian said.


Now the federal government is investigating whether GM dragged its feet on the recall. But there are also concerns that the government was slow to respond as well.

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Lawyer asks feds to force GM to explain recall timing

The federal safety agency officially has been asked to require General Motors to explain why it only now has recalled 619,122 U.S.-market 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt and similar 2007 Pontiac G5 cars to replace faulty ignition switches blamed for at least six deaths.

Documents in a now-settled civil lawsuit against GM show the car company knew of a potential faulty ignition defect leading to engine stalling in 2004, before it launched the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt.

Federal safety rules mandate that an automaker notify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration within five business days after the company identifies a safety problem.

"Testimony of GM engineers and documents produced in Melton v. General Motors et. al., show that the automaker actually knew about the defective ignition switch in these vehicles in 2004 before it began selling" the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, says the letter to  NHTSA from Lance Cooper, the plantiff's lawyer in the lawsuit.

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TOYOTA RECALLS 295,000 VEHICLES GLOBALLY

Toyota Motor is recalling about 295,000 Lexus and Toyota brand vehicles worldwide due to issues with various safety systems like stability control and anti-lock brakes.

The automaker said an electrical component in the brake actuator, which regulates fluid pressure in each wheel cylinder, could "experience increased resistance," according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This could increase the chance of a crash since a number of features may not work properly.

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Graco Recalls Car Seats Over Faulty Buckle

By CHRISTOPHER JENSEN

Graco Children’s Products is recalling almost 3.8 million car seats because faulty buckles can make it hard to free the child in an emergency, the company said on Tuesday.

But federal safety regulators said the recall, the largest in five years, did not go far enough, and have asked for an additional 1.8 million seats to be included because they use the same buckles.

In an unusual move, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Graco in a letter that unless those additional seats were fixed it would take legal action to force a recall.

The seats in the recall are the 2009 to 2013 model years of the Cozy Cline, Comfort Sport, Classic Ride 50, My Ride 65, My Ride with Safety Surround, My Ride 70, Size 4 Me 70, Smartseat, Nautilus, Nautilus Elite and Argos 70.

The investigation into the seats began in 2012 after some parents complained to regulators that they had to cut the straps to remove their children.

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