303 die due to faulty Cobalt and Ion airbags

Image source: Autos.msn.com

By Zack Klapman

According to The New York Times, 303 people have died after airbags failed to deploy.

“G.M. has linked 12 deaths to the defective switch in the two models analyzed, the 2003-5 Chevrolet Cobalts and 2003-7 Saturn Ions, as well as four other models.”

From a technical perspective, the problem occurring is interesting. It’s not a wire coming loose or a misfiring airbag, it’s much simpler: It’s been discovered that the ignition switches in the steering column have not been torqued to correct spec, making them easier to turn. So what’s happening is, when someone gets in an accident, or goes off-road (by accident), or is even driving with a keychain that is too heavy, the ignition key can turn back from “Run” to “Acc.”, turning the car off, which turns off the electricity, which disables the airbag. According to Jalopnik, it can even occur just by bumping the column or key.  It’s as unexpected as it is simple.

A lot of finger-pointing is happening over this, because fatalities involving this problem go back as far as 2001. Some are claiming GM should have known sooner, or that the NHTSA should have launched an investigation.

1.6 million cars have been recalled, and this ignition system is no longer in use. So if you have one of the cars listed on the NY Times site, please bring it in to a dealer.

Zack Klapman is a Senior Editor for The Smoking Tire, and  produces “TUNED” and “BIG MUSCLE” on the /DRIVE Network. He can be found on Twitter. 

Source: Jalopnik