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Airbag recall widens

Posted on 16 October, 2014

A potential safety crisis over defective airbags has widened, with the the US government issuing an urgent plea to more than 4.7 million people to get their cars fixed. The inflator mechanisms in the airbags can rupture, causing metal fragments to fly out when the bags are deployed in crashes. Safety advocates say at least four people have died from the problem and there have been multiple injuries. They also say more than 20m vehicles in the US are equipped with the faulty air bags. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) warned people whose cars have been recalled during the past two years for faulty air bag inflators to take them to dealers right away. The inflators are made by Takata Corp, a Tokyo-based supplier of seat belts, airbags, steering wheels and other auto parts. So far, automakers have recalled about 12m vehicles worldwide because of the problem. “This message comes with urgency,” NHTSA said in a statement. The agency has been investigating the problem since June, and has cited reports of six inflators rupturing, causing three injuries. The warning covers cars made by Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, General Motors and Ford. Passenger or driver air bags or both could be affected depending on the vehicle. Toyota issued the latest recall Monday, covering passenger airbags in 247,000 older model vehicles including the Lexus SC and Corolla. Like many of the other recalls, the Toyota recall covers vehicles in south Florida, along the Gulf Coast, in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa – all areas that have high absolute humidity. Toyota, in documents posted on the NHTSA website, said the company and Takata are still trying to pinpoint the cause of the rupture and to gauge the influence of high absolute humidity. Absolute humidity is a measurement of water vapor in the air, while relative humidity, which is commonly used in weather reports, measures air moisture content relative to the air temperature. Toyota has been testing the airbags, and it found an unusually high incidence of inflator failures along the coasts, according to spokesman John Hanson. The investigation continues and the recall could be expanded to more areas, Hanson said. Toyota says it knows of no crashes or injuries from the cars it has recalled. Neither Toyota nor NHTSA could say exactly how far inland the recall area goes or what states it covers. NHTSA urged people to check if their car has been recalled by going tothis site and typing in their vehicle identification number. Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, estimated there are 20m to 25m cars in the US alone that are equipped with the faulty air bags. Toyota said repairs will be done for free and notices will go into the mail starting around 25 October, according to documents. People who live in areas that are outside of the recall zone who are afraid of driving their cars should contact their dealerships, Hanson said.