The US government’s transportation safety agency has demanded the recall of 67 million airbag inflators after finding they could rupture and injure motorists, Reuters reports.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the inflators pose an unreasonable risk of death or injury.
In its letter to auto supplier and airbag inflator designer ARC Automotive, The Agency listed nine incidents where someone in a car had been injured after an airbag inflator ruptured. The letter states that seven of those incidents took place in the United States, and one of those led to a death.
The ARC airbag inflators in question were produced are found in General Motors (GM), Chrysler-parent Stellantis, BMW, Hyundai Motors, Kia, and other vehicles.
On Friday, GM agreed to recall nearly one million vehicles with ARC airbag inflators after a rupture resulting in the driver getting facial injuries earlier in March 2023.
ARC rejected NHTSA’s tentative conclusion that a defect exists saying it is based upon seven field ruptures in the United States. NHTSA “then asks ARC to prove a negative – that the 67 million inflators in this population are not defective” that were produced over 18 years.
The company said it will continue to work with NHTSA and automakers to evaluate ruptures.
