After issuing a warning that millions of Americans may be at risk due to faulty airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is increasing its efforts to compel an airbag inflator manufacturer to initiate a recall.
Approximately 51 million vehicles are believed to be equipped with Arc airbag inflators. The NHTSA has linked these inflators to at least seven cases of injury or death.
These inflators have reportedly been installed in various vehicles manufactured between 2000 and 2018, including those made by Ford, BMW, GM, Kia, Hyundai, Chrysler, Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla.
Although the NHTSA previously urged ARC Automotive to issue a recall, the company refused. In response, the NHTSA will reopen the investigation and accept public comments for 30 days before determining its next steps.
This situation bears a resemblance to the Takata airbag inflator crisis, which led to the largest recall in automotive history. The NHTSA has noted that the ARC inflators use phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate, a propellant known to cause explosions that can send metal fragments into the vehicle’s occupants.
The NHTSA has a lot of regulatory power, so has the ability to mandate recalls under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which grants it the authority to establish vehicle safety standards and require manufacturers to address safety-related defects.
In its statement, the NHTSA said: “NHTSA is confirming its initial decision that certain frontal driver and passenger air bag inflators manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc. and Delphi Automotive Systems LLC, and vehicles in which those inflators were installed, contain a defect related to motor vehicle Safety.
While the overall incidence of rupture is rare, these failures can result and have resulted in severe injury or death. As such, and considering the evidence of problems in the friction welding process, the subject inflators present a defect.”
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