GM recalls one million pickup trucks worldwide over seat belts.

ABC World News Tonight (4/15, story 8, 0:20, Muir, 14.63M) was alone among the networks in broadcasting a story on “the safety recall involving two popular pickup trucks” by General Motors. GM is recalling “more than a million” Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra model pickups because of “a concern over faulty seat belts.”

        The AP (4/16) reports that the global recall affects 2014 and 2015 model year cars with seat belts that “may not hold the driver in a crash.” Specifically, GM determined through its warranty data that there is “a steel cable that connects the belts to the trucks” that “over time” can “come loose” due to repetitive wear from the driver sitting in the vehicle. Thus far, GM has not received any reports of any crashes or injuries involving the defect, which occurs “rarely and mainly with trucks used by businesses in which drivers frequently enter and exit.”

        The Hill (4/15, Zanona, 862K) reports, “The total number of trucks being recalled globally is over 1 million, with 895,232 in the United States.” Reuters (4/15, Shepardson) puts the total number of vehicles affected by this recall at close to 1.04 million worldwide.

        Among the numerous other outlets reporting on the recall, mostly on local TV affiliates, there is similar coverage in USA Today (4/15, Bomey, 5.45M), CNBC (4/15, 2.3M), Fox Business (4/15, 220K), the Automotive Fleet (4/16, 62K), the Consumerist (4/15, 66K), SlashGear (4/16, 39K), Motor Trend (4/16, 7.13M), the Dallas Morning News (4/15, 1.24M), and WRC-TV Washington (4/16, 352K).