General Motors Issues Another Vehicle Recall Covering Same Safety Issues as Massive 2014 Recall
2014 was a rough year for General Motors. After the automobile manufacturer attempted to quietly recall around 300,000 units of 10-year-old vehicles due to a problem with the ignition switch, which could cause serious car crashes, the company found itself facing heavy criticism from the public and government regulators. GM acknowledged that it knew of at least 13 deaths and over 40 serious injuries since 2004 caused by the ignition switch problem, and further investigation over the course of the year led to the discovery of hundreds of serious personal injuries and at least 60 deaths caused by the ignition switch problem. The company issued numerous vehicle recalls to cover any problems that came up with its vehicles.
GM continued that trend this year with its most recent recall covering 181,000 vehicles in both the US and Canada because the headlights can suddenly stop working. The vehicle recall covers 2005 to 2007 Buicks – older model cars that in some cases have already had the headlight problem fixed once.
According to the vehicle recall notice, a headlight module can overheat and melt under the hood at high temperatures. Low-beam lamps and daytime running lamps can fail because of this problem. GM said that it knows of no crashes, injuries, or deaths related to the problem, and the automotive manufacturer will fix the problem for vehicle owners for free at local dealerships.
The original headlamp recall came in November 2014, as the company wound down its tough year. Although several of these same vehicles have received replacement parts already, according to a GM spokesperson, the replacement parts are also prone to failure.
GM issued the current vehicle recall after receiving a notification from the National Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on June 26th that headlights were continuing to fail. The NHTSA certified that the headlamp part was not used by other manufacturers.
The NHTSA is beginning to take more proactive steps in vehicle recalls, after receiving heavy criticism from Congress for failing to catch the deadly ignition switch problem, despite numerous consumer complaints to the safety agency.
“Based on the information currently available, NHTSA does not believe that the headlamp condition as alleged by the petitioner indicates the likelihood of a safety-related defect that would warrant a formal investigation,” NHTSA said of the headlight replacement recall. Out of 248,453 vehicles, the NHTSA had received 473 consumer complaints about the headlamps.
