WASHINGTON The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) routinely fails to meet its internal timelines for completing auto safety defect investigations, a government report released on Thursday found.

The Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General said that 26 of 27 NHTSA investigations in its 2018–2019 sample did not meet the agency's timeliness targets. It said the department's "lack of timeliness in completing investigations limits its ability to respond to rapidly evolving or severe risks to motor vehicle safety and (NHTSA's) public accountability."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)