NHTSA head on VW, GM: ‘We’re questioning everything now’

Following General Motors’ $900 million ignition-switch settlement and amid Volkswagen’s growing diesel-emissions crisis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration head Mark Rosekind has called for increased industry-wide scrutiny of safety issues.

“We’re questioning everything now. You have to question all assumptions,” he said during a speech at an Automotive Industry Action Group conference this week, as quoted by Detroit News. “You have to question every assumption when information is provided. It’s a very different place to start.”

Rosekind warns that being too ‘reactive’ is dangerous. Instead, he argues that government agencies should be more proactive in uncovering wrongdoing, particularly in cases that could have broader implications across the industry.

“Every time we have an individual automaker, OEM or supplier that we find an issue, your first question has to be, ‘How extensive is it through the whole industry?’” he noted. “You don’t know if it was a unique case or other people doing it.”

The Environmental Protection Agency will be handling a wider investigation of the VW emissions trick to determine if other companies may be guilty of similar behavior, but the NHTSA will be closely following the inquiry to determine if the alleged cheating extends to any safety issues.