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- <text id=93TT1476>
- <title>
- Apr. 19, 1993: Not Exactly an Order . . . Yet
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993
- Apr. 19, 1993 Los Angeles
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- THE WEEK, Page 23
- BUSINESS
- Not Exactly an Order...Yet
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>Regulators request a recall of GM's pickups, citing "increased
- risk"
- </p>
- <p> NBC's flawed account notwithstanding, evidence has continued
- to mount linking General Motors pickup trucks to fiery crashes.
- Federal regulators were reluctant to recall the 5 million
- vehicles still on the road, but new tests conducted by the
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finally persuaded
- them to act. The pickups' fuel tanks, says William Boehly,
- NHTSA's top enforcement official, "have a risk of fire in fatal
- side-impact crashes that is 2.4 times greater than that of Ford
- trucks. General Motors should therefore initiate a recall."
- About 300 people have died in crashes involving GM trucks. The
- callback, which could cost the automaker as much as $1 billion,
- is a request and not an order. GM, arguing that NHTSA is relying
- on questionable data, may refuse the appeal. The company, which
- has until April 30 to respond, has vigorously defended the fuel
- tanks against lawsuits and critical news reports, most notably
- Dateline NBC. If GM balks, NHTSA could demand a recall.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
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