NHTSA Faces Overhaul After Botched Airbag Alert

Pressure from Congress and the White House is pushing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to rethink how it responds to developing safety issues.

The subject came to a head last week after the agency botched a warning to consumers about the immediate danger of millions of cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and crossovers equipped with faulty Takata Corp. airbag inflators.

NHTSA issued an error-riddled list last Monday of 4.7 million affected vehicles from seven carmakers. It posted a corrected list a day later that introduced three more manufacturers, at least 3.1 million additional vehicles and new errors.

Meanwhile, the agency urged consumers to visit its Web site (http://www.safercar.gov) to determine if their vehicles were among those involved in the recalls. But the site didn't work for much of the week.

NHTSA says it may revise its list again because some models may have been listed multiple times. The tally is certain to rise, since General Motors Co. didn't immediately indicate how many of its vehicles are affected.

Another source of confusion: NHTSA's warning list covers only airbag recalls launched in the past two years. But carmakers have called back some 16 million vehicles worldwide since 2009 to fix Takata-related airbag problems.

NHTSA's procedures have been under scrutiny since February. That's when General Motors Co. began recalling 2.6 million vehicles to replace ignition switches the company knew were defective a decade ago. Critics say the agency failed to act earlier on evidence of the GM switches. Now they are making similar claims about the Takata recalls, which also involve older models.

The agency has been without an official head since Administrator David Strickland left in January. The White House says it will nominate a new NHTSA chief in a few weeks.