Regulator Called Slow To Respond To Deadly Vehicle Defects

General Motors published an article in February on its Chevrolet website trumpeting that its 2014 Chevys had earned more five-star overall safety ratings in a new car assessment program than had any other brand. The next day, GM began recalling millions of its cars for a deadly ignition defect, and by August, six of the eight five-star Chevrolet models had been recalled for a variety of safety issues, including defects in air bags, brakes, and steering. Five had been recalled multiple times.

It was an embarrassing turn — but not just for the embattled automaker. The stellar rankings had been awarded by the federal regulatory agency that is mandated by Congress to ensure the safety of automobiles. The agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has a record of missteps that goes well beyond its failure to detect an ignition switch defect in several models of GM cars now linked to at least 13 deaths.

Even as more cars are recalled for safety problems, NHTSA has awarded an increased number of high safety ratings — two thirds of 2015 models tested so far received the top rating, an important marketing claim. The agency spends about the same effort on investigating defects as on rating cars, and is seeking a big increase in the ratings budget this year.

In many of the major vehicle safety issues of recent years — including unintended acceleration in Toyotas, fires in Jeep fuel tanks and air bag ruptures in Hondas, as well as the GM ignition defect — the agency did not take a leading role until well after the problems had reached a crisis level, safety advocates had sounded alarms, and motorists were injured or died.

Not only does the agency spend about as much money rating new cars — a favorite marketing tool for automakers — as it does investigating potentially deadly manufacturing defects, but it also has been so deferential to automakers that it made a key question it poses about fatal accidents optional — a policy it is only now changing. The agency, created in 1970, is part of the Transportation Department and has an annual budget of about $800 million, which is split among vehicle safety, highway safety research, and grants geared toward promoting traffic safety at the state level.

The agency has continued to show sluggishness in its investigations, feeding a perception that it does not stand up to the politically influential, multibillion-dollar automobile industry until it is forced to do so by outside pressure.

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