General Motors delayed a safety recall of more than 330,000 Saturn cars that have been found to have defective power steering systems, newly released federal documents show. The records also show federal regulators didn't demand a recall of the cars, despite thousands of complaints about them.
The cars' problem is described as "a sudden loss of electric power steering (EPS) assist that could occur at any time while driving" by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Some drivers have complained that those failings came at dangerous times, such as mid-way through a turn.
As NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports, news of the recall comes after recent criticisms of GM's delayed response to faulty ignition switches that have been blamed for more than a dozen deaths. Here's a report Hansi filed for our Newscast desk today:
"It took General Motors more than a decade to warn the public that more than 2.6 million of its cars had faulty ignition switches.
"Now documents posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website show that GM also waited years to recall more than 300,000 Saturn Ions for power steering failure — despite receiving thousands of consumer complaints and claims for warranty repairs.
"The documents also show that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation about the defective power steering systems more than two years ago.
"But the government regulator did not seek a recall, after finding the problem caused a dozen crashes and two injuries."