3.6 million GM vehicles recalled in U.S.

Staff/wire report

DETROIT

General Motors has voluntarily issued a recall of 3.6 million 2014-2017 model- year vehicles in the U.S.

In certain driving conditions, the affected vehicles’ software for airbag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) activates a test that causes the frontal airbags not to deploy and the seat belts not to tighten up to protect occupants during a crash, the automaker said.

The affected models are some of GM’s top sellers:

2014-2016 model-year Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet SS and Spark EV; 2014-2017 model- year Chevrolet Corvette, Trax, Caprice PPV and Silverado 1500; Buick Encore; and GMC Sierra 1500; and 2015-2017 model-year Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban and Silverado HD; GMC Yukon, Yukon XL and Sierra HD; and Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV.

GM will notify affected vehicle owners, and dealers will address the software problem. Vehicles that have had a previous airbag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge.

Worldwide, the recall total is 4.28 million vehicles.

GM says the defect is linked to at least one death and three injuries.

The automaker discovered the defect in May after a report was filed in GM’s Speak Up for Safety program. The report detailed a crash involving a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado truck where the driver’s frontal airbag and the seat belts purportedly did not deploy. A GM product investigator obtained records from the vehicle and provided the records to Delphi, the supplier of the system. Together, Delphi and GM’s investigator reviewed data from similar vehicles where a similar report was given.

In early August, GM’s Safety and Field Action Decision Authority was given details of the investigation and, after further testing, it was decided a safety recall needed to be issued.

This recall surpasses the 2.6 million vehicles recalled for a faulty ignition switch in 2014. GM knew about the ignition switch defect in small cars, including the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cobalt, for more than a decade before it issued that recall.

That defect surrounds the ignition switch, which could allow the key to switch to the “accessory” or “off” position, turn off the engine and lead to a crash. In that scenario, accidents could become fatal because in the accessory position, the front airbags may fail to deploy.

Last week, GM settled two federal court cases related to the ignition switches for an undisclosed amount.

The cases are among several so-called “bellwether” trials that are testing the legal boundaries of hundreds of claims against GM. So far this year, one federal bellwether case was dropped before trial, GM won two, and three have been settled.

The switches are responsible for at least 124 deaths and 275 injuries, according to a victims fund set up by GM and administered by attorney Kenneth Feinberg.

GM has paid nearly $875 million to settle death and injury claims, including $600 million from Feinberg’s fund and $275 million to settle 1,385 separate claims. It also has paid $300 million to settle shareholder lawsuits.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.