Dangerous airbag alert! Over 30 million US drivers unaware if they are at risk

More than 33 million people in the United States drive automobiles that contain a potentially lethal threat: airbag inflators that, in rare situations, might rupture and spew shards in a collision. Only a handful of them are aware of it, reported the Associated Press.

Additionally, they are unlikely to find out anytime soon due to a disagreement between federal safety officials and an airbag parts maker.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA )has demanded that the maker, ARC Automotive of Knoxville, Tennessee, recall 67 million inflators that have the potential to blow apart a metal canister and unleash shrapnel. However, ARC is refusing to do so, perhaps setting up a legal battle with the agency.

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The NHTSA claims that the recall is importantsince ARC's inflators have killed two individuals and injuredat least seven others in the United States and Canada. The explosions, which began in 2009, are stillongoing.

After an eight-year observation, the NHTSA tentatively decided that the inflators are faulty. According to the records provided by the government, the inflators date from at least the 2002 model year through January 2018, when ARC placed equipment on its manufacturing lines to identify possible safety issues.

Marlene Beaudoin, a 40-year-old mother of ten from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, was killed after her 2015 Chevrolet Traverse SUV was hit by metal shards, reported the Associated Press.

What does the ARC say?

ARC says that there is no safety fault, that the NHTSA's demand is based on a theory rather than technical results, and that the agency lacks the jurisdiction to require a components manufacturer to carry out recalls, which ARC claims are the duty of automakers.

In a letter to the NHTSA, ARC stated that no carmaker has discovered a problem common to all 67 million inflators, and no root cause of the inflator ruptures has been identified.

“ARC believes they resulted from random ‘one-off’ manufacturing anomalies that were properly addressed by vehicle manufacturers through lot-specific recalls,” the letter said.

In a statement, NHTSA made it clearthat both ARC and automakers are responsible for recalls and that it can seek a recall from a parts maker that supplies multiple automakers.

The NHTSA will next make a final finding on whether the inflators are faulty, followed by a public hearing. It may require ARC to court to obtain a recall order. The NHTSA will not specify when or if any of this would occur.

Meanwhile, owners of cars manufactured by at least a dozen manufacturers — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Ford, Toyota, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Hyundai, and Kia — are left to wonder if their vehicles possess ARC driver or front passenger inflators. (ARC inflators can be found on both sides of some automobiles.)

There is no onemethod for car owners to know whether their inflators are produced by ARC because ARC sells inflators that are incorporated in the airbags of other manufacturers. Neither the NHTSA, the ARC, nor the manufacturers have issued a comprehensive list of affectedvehicles.

(With inputs from agencies)

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