By TOM KRISHER
AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) - U.S. auto safety investigators have found no apparent defect with the passenger air bag seat sensors in thousands of older General Motors sedans. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration denied a 2013 petition filed by a private crash investigator seeking a formal investigation of full-size cars including the Chevrolet Impala from the 2004 to 2010 model years. The investigator alleged that the sensor used to determine if an adult or child are in the seats can unintentionally turn off air bags just before a crash. The safety agency said it checked fatal crashes involving older Impalas in which passenger air bags didn’t inflate and found that the failure rate was lower than comparable vehicles.

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