NHTSA Complaint #10566215 — 2006 CHEVROLET COBALT

ON DECEMBER 31, 2009, MY 25 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING ALONG AN INTERSTATE IN HER CHEVY COBALT. SHE CRASHED INTO A TREE ALONG THE SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE. HER AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY, AND HER SEATBELT DID NOT LOCK. SHE DIED ON IMPACT, ACCORDING TO THE POLICE ON REVIEWING THE SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT, MY SON OBSERVED THAT THE TRACKS LEFT BY THE CAR BEFORE IT CRASHED WERE IN A STRAIGHT LINE, SUGGESTING THAT THE BRAKES EITHER HAD NOT BEEN APPLIED OR HAD NOT WORKED. ON DOING RESEARCH, HE FOUND INFORMATION ONLINE SUGGESTING THAT THERE HAD BEEN OTHER, SIMILAR CRASHES IN COBALTS AND THAT THE IGNITION SWITCH WAS THOUGHT TO BE DEFECTIVE. WE HAVE ALREADY ADDRESSED THIS WITH GM AND COMPLETED OUR ACTION, AND, AT THE TIME, I FILED A CONSUMER COMPLAINT TO DOCUMENT THE ISSUE. I JUST READ THAT THIS AGENCY WILL BE INVESTIGATING THE ISSUE, AND I WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU WERE AWARE OF MY DAUGHTER'S DEATH IN A COBALT IN WHICH THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY, THE SEATBELT DID NOT LOCK, AND THAT WE STRONGLY SUSPECT, THOUGH GM NEVER CONFIRMED THIS, HAD A DEFECTIVE IGNITION SWITCH. *TR