7/20/2015 Auto safety became political last week on Capitol Hill as lawmakers debated a series of attachments to a transportation bill to be presented next month. Much of the debate went along partisan lines, with the Republican majority blocking several key measures surrounding the massive auto recall epidemic that has plagued the industry over the
7/17/2015 Deputy administrator David Friedman, who oversaw the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) through the majority of its most challenging year ever, left the agency on Friday to take a position at the U.S. Energy Department. Former NHTSA head David Strickland left the agency in January 2014 to join Venable LLP, a law firm
7/16/2015 On Wednesday, Toyota announced that it was recalling over 625,000 hybrid vehicles, the large majority of them Prius models, due to a flaw in the software that controls the power converter. The defect could cause the vehicles to shut down and come to a complete stop. The recall affects the Prius V wagon/minivan, which
7/12/2015 Embattled Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata has roiled some lawmakers by announcing that the company will not set up a victim’s compensation fund similar to that for the General Motors’ ignition switch recall. Takata’s North American senior vice-president Kevin Kennedy made the announcement in a letter penned to Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who had strongly
7/10/2015 It’s been a busy 48 hours for National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) chief Michael Rosekind. On Wednesday, the agency released the list of vehicles affected by the massive Takata airbag recall. In addition to the list that is published at the end of this posting, the NHTSA has created a vehicle identification number
7/5/2015 For the first time in nearly three years, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a public hearing on Thursday, July 2nd. In the hearing, the agency scrutinized Fiat-Chrysler’s handling of 23 recalls involving 11 million vehicles. Acting director of the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), Jennifer Timian, began the hearing by
6/29/2015 According to a Sunday press release, Fiat-Chrysler announced that an assembly error detected last month may cause a suspension component to fail in some 2015 Dodge Durango SUVs and Jeep Cherokee models. The automaker said that the rear control arm was not properly heat-treated, causing a defect which is estimated to occur in no
6/26/2015 In a dramatic press briefing in Tokyo following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting, the president of embattled Japanese airbag manufacturer, Takata, Shigehisa Takada, made his first public apology for the faulty airbags responsible for at least 8 deaths and over 100 injuries. First bowing to the media, Takada said, “I apologize for not having
6/23/2015 The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee alternated flaying both Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata, and the U.S.’s top auto regulator, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) during a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday. The hearing accompanies two separate reports that highlight extreme failings by both the manufacturer and the agency. The hearing
6/11/2015 It looks like the U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into General Motors’ pre-recall knowledge is tightening its grip around the company, as the agency is now considering wire fraud charges against the company. Star Manhattan U.S. Attorney, Preet Bharara, and his office are leading the investigation in conjunction with the Department of Justice.