WASHINGTON—Senators threatened Tuesday to withhold additional funding from the nation’s top auto safety agency until it improves its ability to spot defective parts like Takata Corp.’s exploding air bags.
The Senate Commerce Committee met to grill Takata on its ongoing recall of 33.8 million air bags, the largest recall in U.S. history. At least eight people have been killed and 100 injured by the air bags, which can explode with too much force and spew shrapnel into the vehicle. The problem has persisted for more than a decade and impacts 11 automakers, including Honda, BMW and Toyota.
But much of the committee’s ire was directed at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and its numerous missteps in the Takata investigation as well as last year’s recall of General Motors Co. vehicles for defective ignition switches. NHTSA first learned of a possible problem with Takata air bags in 2004 and investigated the issue in 2009, but didn’t accelerate the recall process until last year.
