The highway safety authority of the U.S. government has launched an investigation into four car makers who have in their vehicles a potentially deadly form of Takata air bag inflator that is subject to recall.
Through documents released on Thursday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is investigating Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi in connection with a Takata recall of 1.4 million inflators.
The inflators manufactured by the now-bankrupt Takata have a separate and distinct problem that can cause them to blow up a metal canister and spray shrapnel into the faces and bodies of people.
Deadly and Defective
In Australia, the problem claimed the life of a driver who was in an older 3-Series BMW. The company had already recalled more than 116,000 cars. The issue is so serious that BMW has advised drivers in some cases to stay away from their cars until repairs are done.
The security agency reports that with the faulty inflator system, Takata did not provide adequate information on the affected vehicle model or year the vehicles were made, so it is asking companies to quickly recall them.
The agency says that it is likely that the vehicles to be recalled come from the 1995 to 2000 model years based on when the defective inflators were made.
In letters to the four auto makers, NHTSA states that after finding out about a safety flaw, they have five business days to inform the regulator.
A spokesperson for Honda said Thursday that it hasn't yet decided whether its cars are affected, but it should make a decision early. They're still investigating, Audi and Toyota said. A message was left for Mitsubishi's response on Thursday. NHTSA instructed the companies to respond by January 17.
Fatalities
On Dec. 4, NHTSA released documents detailing the problems from Takata and BMW. The papers said the Australian driver was killed while another driver was wounded in Cyprus.
The non-azide inflators of Takata do not use explosive ammonium nitrate to fill the air bags in a collision, unlike prior recalls. But when exposed to heat, the propellant air bag may still deteriorate over time and rupture too easily, blowing apart the inflator core. Often, they may not inflate completely to protect people in a crash.
Takata claims it made about 4.5 million inflators worldwide in government documents, but only a fraction is still in use as the cars are so vintage. With inadequate seals, the faulty inflators pose serious could be very dangerous.
