NHTSA head of defects investigations quits due to management issues
for the Department of Transportation, which includes NHTSA, released an audit saying the defects investigation office is slow to investigate safety problems, limiting its ability to respond quickly to severe risks to automobile safety. Auditors found that the defects office often missed its own goals for speedier investigations, it doesn't have clear requirements for documenting probes, and it failed to adequately supervise investigators.
Ridella was in charge of the defects office as it began trying to force ARC Automotive Inc. of Tennessee recall 67 millioninflators that can explode with too much force and hurl shrapnel. NHTSA says the inflators have caused two deaths in the U.S. and Canada and injured seven others. The agency sent a recall request letter to ARC in April after an investigation that was started eight years ago.
NHTSA made a tentative determination that ARC’s inflators are defective, and it has ordered the company to say whether it expects more inflators to rupture. ARC has until June 14 to respond. The next step in the process would be for NHTSA to hold a public hearing, and then possibly take the company to court to get a recall order.
In his LinkedIn posting, Ridella wrote that he's thrilled to join Zoox as it develops a robotaxi. “Safety has been the focus of my entire career, and I am excited to continue this journey with my new team at Zoox,” he wrote.
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