GM Granted Delay in Recalling Air Bags
Feds allow GM to delay recall of vehicles with possibly dangerous Takata air bags. GM to study how long bags can last.
The federal government is granting a request from General Motors to delay a massive recall of vehicles the automaker has equipped with potentially dangerous Takata air bags.
Air bags made by Takata can explode when they inflate and shower passengers with shrapnel.
Takata has been forced to recall almost 70 million vehicles from about a dozen-and-a-half automakers who used those air bags.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wanted to get the oldest, most vulnerable air bags off of the road first and has a second round of recalls scheduled to begin next month.
But GM requested a one year delay in recalling 2.5 million of its vehicles that use Takata air bags, saying the automaker wants to study how long the air bags can last.
GM says it currently estimates the air bags will safely operate for at least another three years.
Now federal regulators have agreed to the delay, though officials say that GM must provide an update each month on the air bag study.
The Detroit-based automaker has said it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to replace the air bags.
