Between 2003 and 2012, 303 people died after the airbags of two models of General Motors cars failed to deploy. Last month GM recalled those models, the 2003-5 Chevrolet Cobalts and the 2003-2007 Saturn Ions, along with four other models in a 1.6 million-car recall. The review of airbag-linked deaths was carried out by Friedman Research, which did not evaluate the causes of the crashes, and was commissioned by the Center for Auto Safety. A GM spokesman criticized the database for only tracking raw data and not rigorously analyzing it. The Detroit News, however, has pointed to a 2009 study that found the U.S.'s database on air bag failures makes the problem seem much worse than it actually is.
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