The New York Times reports that NHTSA Administrator Mark R. Rosekind vowed to “take aggressive action on vehicle recalls that move too slowly.” According to the article, Rosekind “took particular aim at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles,” saying that the company fell short of expectations over its efforts to repair more than a million Jeep SUVs “with potentially dangerous gas tanks.” Rosekind is quoted as saying,”We’re very displeased with what’s going on.” He added, “The numbers are horribly low, and that translates into lives at risk.” The Times notes that Rosekind also criticized Takata “for not fully cooperating in the recall of millions” of airbags.
After noting that automakers, on average, repair three out of four vehicles covered by a recall in 18 months, the AP notes that Rosekind said Tuesday that he “wants to get that repair rate to 100 percent.” The article later mentions that Rosekind said that the NHTSA “likely will take further action on Takata soon.” Additionally, the AP says that the NHTSA “may reopen its investigation into” the Jeep SUVs that are equipped with gas tanks that are vulnerable to puncture in rear-end crashes.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Rosekind said that he would meet with an NHTSA working group next week about whether to reopen an investigation into the Jeep SUVs.
From the news release of the American Association for Justice.
