Personal Injury Blog

NHTSA Under Fire for Alleged Cover-Up of General Motor Volt Fire Incidents

December 15th, 2011
General Motor Volt Fire Incidents

NHTSA under fire for alleged cover-up of general motor volt fire incidents

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has come under fire from San Diego defective product lawyers and consumer safety groups over its handling of the General Motors Volt fire incidents.

The Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood has denied that the agency acted irresponsibly in assessing the battery fires in the Chevrolet Volt. Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported on a battery fire involving the Chevrolet Volt at one of its testing facilities.  The car had been put through a crash test, and had been parked in the garage when it burst into flames.  The incident apparently occurred about 6 months ago, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and General Motors only informed the public just a few weeks ago.

According to the agency as well as the auto maker, they were not able to replicate the fire that occurred at the agency’s testing facility.  The agency initially said that it was only aware of one instance of such a fire, and it occurred on the agency’s own facility.  However, just a couple of weeks later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration admitted that there had been 2 other instances where the car broke into flames or emitted sparks and smoke.

However, lawmakers and consumer safety groups have criticized the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for its delay in informing consumers about these battery fires, considering that the car has been highly received, and also has a top five-star crash rating.  Consumers are influenced by crash ratings, and deserve to have more information that can help them make safe decisions.  California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is alleging that the National Traffic Safety Administration deliberately suppressed public knowledge of the safety risk that was posed by the General Motors Chevrolet Volt lithium-ion battery.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration should have alerted consumers as soon as it became aware of the potential fire problem in the battery of the Volt.  The Volt is a much-vaunted, high-profile car that General Motors has heavily promoted because of its fuel efficiency.

General Motors insists that the cars are safe to drive.  The company has already offered to buy back Chevrolet Volt cars from people who feel that these cars are unsafe.  It has also offered loaner cars to consumers who want to come in and have their cars fixed.  The automaker has still not confirmed what repairs will be made to the cars.

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