US RECOMMENDS RECALLING 52 MILLION AIR BAG INFLATORS DUE TO A RUPTURE RISK

Wed 06 September 2023:

52 million air bag inflators manufactured by auto suppliers ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive must be recalled because they may burst and send harmful metal fragments flying, according to US vehicle safety officials,

The recall was first requested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in May, but it was denied by ARC. On Tuesday, the agency issued an initial decision and scheduled a public meeting for Oct. 5.

The inflators that the NHTSA is seeking to have recalled have been used in vehicles from 2000 through early 2018 produced by 12 automakers, including General Motors, Ford Motor , Stellantis, Tesla, Toyota Motor and Volkswagen.

“These air bag inflators may rupture when the vehicle’s air bag is commanded to deploy, causing metal debris to be forcefully ejected into the passenger compartment of the vehicle,” NHTSA wrote in an initial decision document. “A rupturing air bag inflator poses an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death to vehicle occupants.”

“Air bag inflators that rupture when commanded to deploy are plainly defective, as they both fail to protect vehicle occupants as they should, and, themselves, pose an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death,” the NHTSA said.

ARC in May rejected the NHTSA’s tentative conclusion that a defect exists. ARC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The NHTSA said it is aware of seven confirmed inflator ruptures in the United States in the vehicles it seeks to have recalled, including seven injuries and one death.

Initially, the NHTSA said 67 million air bag inflators were unsafe, but on Tuesday it corrected that estimate to account for “over-inclusive responses reported to the agency by certain manufacturers over the course of the investigation.”

After a rupture in March resulted in facial injuries to a driver, GM agreed in May to recall nearly 1 million vehicles equipped with ARC air bag inflators.

Delphi Automotive, which was acquired by Autoliv, produced roughly 11 million inflators through a licensing arrangement with ARC, which produced the remaining 41 million inflators.

For more than 15 years, the NHTSA has been investigating air bag inflator ruptures.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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