The US government’s auto safety agency has admitted that its staffers didn’t understand airbag technology very well and that is why a deadly fault in General Motors products was ignored for years.

The self-incriminating statements were made on Friday when National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced plans to become more aggressive in finding and solving possible safety issues in more than 240 million cars in America.

This is the first time that the safety agency admits faults and its failure in connecting the dots between the information it received from the car-maker and the faulty switches.

General Motors is accused of hiding a fatal ignition defect in its products for almost a decade, resulting in 109 deaths and more than 200 serious injuries.

The defective switches were used in older models of cars such as Chevrolet Cobalt.  The switches may slide out of position and cut off the engine for a split second which in turn may cause the airbag mechanism to stop working.

The NHTSA report on Friday also holds agency’s staffers as the main culprit in the case of GM ignition defects as they lacked the necessary knowledge about this mechanism.

It is also noted that the agency failed to put GM under pressure, when the auto-maker provided insufficient details.

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said that although no disciplinary action is taken against the agency staff, the case changed the agency’s culture.

“The GM experience changed the culture here. What that means is challenge the information you’re getting, and challenge the assumptions you are pursuing,” Rosekind said.

The NHTSA boss still put the bulk of the blame on GM, the biggest US car manufacturer, accusing it of deliberately deceiving the investigations and withholding critical information.

The technical fault has so far set GM back a hefty $600 million in compensations for victims. The company was also forced to pay NHTSA fines amounting to $35 million.

MTM/GJH