Onus on Takata to prove 85 million airbag inflators safe
About 85 million Takata airbag inflators that haven’t been recalled are inside cars and trucks now being driven in the U.S. and would have to be replaced if the company can’t prove they are safe, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said.
The number would be in addition to the 28.8 million inflators already slated for replacement in what has become the largest automotive recall in U.S. history. If all the inflators are recalled, it would take years to complete and cost Takata billions of dollars.
Unlike most airbag makers, Takata’s inflators use the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion that fills airbags in a crash. But the chemical can burn too fast and explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and hurling shrapnel at drivers and passengers. At least 11 people have died worldwide and more than 100 have been hurt.
The NHTSA, which made the estimate, says it doesn’t know how many vehicles have Takata airbags but many have more than one inflator made by the company.
The new number shows how much worse the Takata problem could become, said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who has urged the NHTSA to recall all Takata inflators and make the company stop selling those with ammonium nitrate.
“It underscores the need for regulators to provide the public with better answers when it comes to every Takata airbag on the road,” Nelson said.
Under the terms of an agreement reached with Takata last year, the Japanese parts supplier must prove to the agency that the un-recalled inflators are safe to use, or they must be recalled. The agency has said it expects the number of Takata recalls to increase.
The problem has been linked to older cars with long-term exposure to high humidity. That’s why replacement parts are being targeted to areas such as the U.S. Gulf Coast, although many of the cars have been recalled nationwide.
No one knows for certain how long it takes for the ammonium nitrate to deteriorate or whether inflators in older cars in cooler, less-humid states might explode in the future. That makes the safety of Takata inflators — which are in driver, passenger and side airbags — a potentially deadly unknown.
Mark Rosekind, who heads the NHTSA, said in a February letter to Nelson that an immediate total recall of Takata airbags wouldn’t provide significant safety benefits and could exceed the government’s legal authority. It would also strain the network for replacement parts and increase uncertainty for consumers, he wrote.
Nelson wants all the inflators recalled, fearing further deaths and injuries. His request was made after a South Carolina man was killed by a Takata driver’s airbag inflator last year. The inflator in the man’s Ford Ranger pickup had not been recalled, and previous tests had shown no problems that type of inflator. The agency said it must have data to support further recalls, which currently it does not have.