"Staff Report on the GM Ignition Switch Recall:Review of NHTSA", 16 Sep 2014

After reviewing documents produced by GM and NHTSA and conducting extensive interviews and briefings of relevant officials,Committee staff has identified the following key failures by the nation’s automobile safety regulator:1) NHTSA had ample information to identify a potential safety defect as early as 2007... 2) The agency failed to investigate or even explore the link between the air bags and ignition switch identified in the State Trooper’s report or agency-commissioned crash investigation following the fatal crash in Wisconsin...3) NHTSA failed to track or identify similarities in three independent investigations it commissioned of crashes involving non-deployment of the frontal air bags in the Chevrolet Cobalt...4) NHTSA’s failure to follow-up on information provided to the agency was compounded by a lack of understanding of the vehicle systems and functions implemented in response to the agency’s own standards.