NHTSA Interim Deputy Friedman Leaving Agency

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says David Friedman, its deputy administrator and interim chief for more than a year, is leaving to take a post in the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

Friedman will become a senior official with DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He filled in as head of NHTSA after David Strickland left in January 2014 until the current chief, Mark Rosekind, took over in December.

Friedman headed the agency during the year when carmakers recalled a record 64 million vehicles, including 27 million by General Motors Co. He also oversaw the developing crisis involving exploding Takata Corp. airbag inflators. He joined NHTSA in 2013 and became the agency's lead expert on fuel economy.