The government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants the Japanese company to agree to a recall that could more than double the 28.8 million Takata inflators that already must be replaced, according to the people who requested anonymity because talks are still ongoing. The largest automotive recall in history centers around the defective Takata Corp. air bags that are found in millions of vehicles that are manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota. “NHTSA will continue to evaluate all available research and will act quickly to protect safety”, said Mark Rosekind, NHTSA Administrator.
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“Nonetheless, the company has agreed to accept and support the expanded recalls respecting Takata’s and NHTSA’s shared interest towards future safety and restoring public confidence”, the company said in a statement.
That rapid burn can rupture the inflator and spray shrapnel into drivers and passengers.
“This is a death blow to the airbag inflator side of Takata”, Upham said. With the prior recalls, the move means a substantial number of cars on the road are in need of having their air bags repaired.
USA safety regulators are expanding a recall of Takata air bags, already the largest recall in US history.
Three independent reports concluded that the chemical Takata uses to ignite its air bags ammonium nitrate can degrade after long-term exposure to environmental moisture and high temperatures.
“This recall schedule ensures the inflators will be recalled and replaced before they become unsafe”, Rosekind said. NHTSA stressed that all ammonium nitrate based propellant driver and passenger frontal airbags without a chemical drying agent will have to be recalled.
“Honda Malaysia is working with the local authorities to get the database of current owners of these cars and communicate with them on the recall”, Jordhatt Johan, a spokesman for Honda Malaysia, said by phone Thursday. NHTSA and the affected automakers are committed to a 100-percent completion rate with this recall.
Takata, responding in a statement, said it’s unaware of any ruptures reported in the inflators covered by the expansion, either in the field or in lab testing.
NHTSA largely ratified those conclusions Wednesday as the official root cause of the air-bag failures.
Investigators increasingly suspect that the chemical used to inflate Takata airbags can be unstable, especially in hot and humid conditions, and cause the inflator canister to rupture. And he said NHTSA is close to creating a model that would allow it to determine the highest risks and prioritize which cars would be first in line for replacement as parts become available.
Florida is considerd a high-priority area because high humidity is suspected of contributing to the risk of airbag failures. The auto dealer and Honda said they had sent six air-bag recall notices to Hanif’s family, but family members said they had not received the notices.
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Two U.S. senators said even the expanded recall may not be enough.
