At the same time that leaders at General Motors Co. sounded contrite following the release of the company’s internal investigation into its ignition-switch recalls, the top lawyer at another organization that was also skewered when Congress held hearings on the scandal sounded positively upbeat.
In June, a day before GM’s internal report was made public, O. Kevin Vincent, chief counsel at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, was giving a speech to defense lawyers in Chicago. It was an odd moment for NHTSA. At times Vincent sounded as though his agency had helped bring the car manufacturer to justice. And, in point of fact, NHTSA had fined GM $35 million for its delay in reporting the defect—the maximum penalty permitted by law. But this was also the agency that did not so much as open a formal investigation even after multiple deaths were attributed to the defective ignition switch. And NHTSA only acted to punish GM after plaintiffs lawyers, the media and congressional hearings revealed the company’s failures.
