Fine in defect scandal under a day’s revenue for GM

WASHINGTON — U.S. safety regulators fined General Motors a record $35 million US on Friday for taking at least a decade to disclose defects linked to at least 13 deaths.

It’s the maximum penalty that the government can impose, but less than a day’s revenue for GM, based on the $37.4 billion US it took in during the first quarter. Safety advocates were quick to question its effectiveness.

GM also has agreed to government oversight on safety issues, and to report safety problems much faster than in the past, under the agreement announced Friday by the Transportation Department and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA has been investigating GM’s delayed recall of 2.6 million older small cars with defective ignition switches in small cars. GM has acknowledged knowing as early as 2001 that the switches had problems, but it didn’t start recalling the cars until February of this year. The department said in a statement that GM agreed it was slow to report the problems.

The company says at least 13 people have died in crashes linked to the problem, but trial lawyers suing the company say the death toll is at least 53.

Ignition switches on Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions can slip out of the “run” position and shut off the engine. That cuts off the power steering and brakes, potentially causing drivers to lose control. It also disables the car’s airbags.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Friday that the U.S. government won’t accept a company failing to notify regulators about safety defects.

“Literally, silence can kill,” he said at a news conference in Washington. “GM did not act and did not alert us in a timely manner. What GM did was break the law.”

Automakers are required to report safety defects within five days of discovering them.