NHTSA investigates 4 deaths after car air bags fail to inflate
DETROIT — Air bags in some Hyundai and Kia cars failed to inflate in crashes and four people are dead. Now the U.S. government’s road safety agency wants to know why.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is investigating problems that affect an estimated 425,000 cars made by the Korean automakers. The agency also is looking into whether the same problem could happen in vehicles made by other companies.
In documents posted on its website Saturday, the safety agency said the probe covers 2011 Hyundai Sonata midsize cars and 2012 and 2013 Kia Forte compacts. The agency said it has reports of six frontend crashes with significant damage to the cars. Four people died and six were injured.
The problem has been traced to electrical shorts in air bag control computers made by parts supplier ZFTRW.
The NHTSA wants to know if other automakers used the same computer.
On Feb. 27, Hyundai recalled nearly 155,000 Sonatas due to air bag failures, which the company has traced to a short circuit in the air bag control computers. Hyundai’s sister automaker Kia, which sells similar vehicles, has yet to issue a recall. No deaths or injuries were disclosed in Hyundai’s recall documents, which were posted by NHTSA in early March.
Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor said the problem occurred in head-on collisions offset from the center of the vehicles. “It’s very unusual to have that kind of collision,” he said.
Dealers will consider offering loaner cars to owners until the problem can be repaired, he said.