A heavy key chain may deactivate the airbags in your Chevy Cobalt or Pontiac G5

GM is recalling 788,000 Cobalt and Pontiac G5 sedans for a potentially deadly problem with the ignition system. When the vehicles' keys are connected to heavy key chains (or, say, key rings laden with a dozen extra keys), a sufficiently extreme jolt or impact could shift the ignition out of the "run" position and into the "off" position. Cuts electrical power to the vehicles' systems, in turn deactivating the airbags.

So far five crashes tied to the problem have occurred, resulting in six fatalities.

The Cobalts impacted are from model years 2005-2007 and the G5s are from 2007, according to the NHTSA. Dealers will provided a fix in the form of a replacement part at no charge, GM said, but owners should remove extraneous items from their keys until the fix is made.

According to a company spokesperson, all of the fatal crashes tied to the flaw happened at high speeds off road, where the probability of serious injuries is greater. Failure to wear seat belts and alcohol were also factors in some cases, the spokesperson said.

GM is also aware of 17 other crashes involving a frontal impact and non-fatal injuries when the airbag didn't deploy.

Most of the cars were sold in the United States, but 153,310 are in Canada and about 6,000 are in Mexico.

Owners may contact Chevrolet at 1-800-222-1020 or Pontiac at 1-800-762-2737. GM's number for this recall is 13454.

By Jake Lingeman