GM Recalls 1 Million Cars for Faulty Air Bags

General Motors Corp. is recalling nearly 1 million cars with air bags that can deploy inadvertently, company executives said Monday.

About 863,000 GM Chevrolet Cavaliers and Pontiac Sunfires from the 1996 and 1997 model years are being recalled, along with 103,000 Cadillac DeVille, Concours, Eldorado and Seville cars from model year 1995, said GM spokesman Kyle Johnson.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was investigating 96 complaints involving Cavalier and Sunfire air bags inadvertently deploying while the cars were being driven under normal conditions over paved roads. GM told the agency there was an increased risk of an air bag deployment in a low-speed crash or when an object strikes the car’s floor.

The problem represents the latest cloud over air bags, which have been blamed for killing several dozen children in low-speed crashes. The government now advises parents to put children in the back seat of cars with passenger-side air bags.