GM Recalls SUVs After Air-Bag Test Failure

General Motors Corp. announced a recall of about 279,000 sport-utility vehicles that failed a government air-bag test, although the auto maker insisted there is no safety problem. The recall involves 279,000 1999-model Chevrolet Tahoes, GMC Yukons and Cadillac Escalades. GM dropped a petition filed in August that asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to disregard the test. The company believes the problem produced in the simulation would not be present in a real crash, said Robert Lange, engineering director at GM’s Safety Center. In the February 1999 test, a Chevrolet Tahoe registered a higher possibility of serious neck injury on the test dummy than allowed by federal regulations.