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DARPA awards Phase 2 SBIR contract for HEV motorcycle prototype
January 20, 2015 By Neville -
Report: Hyundai to cut price of FCV in Korea to compete with Toyota
January 20, 2015 By Neville -
Nissan LEAF is best-selling EV in Europe for fourth year in a row
January 20, 2015 By Neville -
Ford of Europe designer Stefan Lamm joins VW’s Seat brand
January 20, 2015 By Sean -
Ford’s German production to raise as demand rebounds
January 20, 2015 By Sean
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NHTSA ups air bag warning to 7.8M vehicles
By TOM KRISHER
The U.S. government is telling 3 million more car owners to get their air bags repaired immediately because of potential danger to drivers and passengers, but the message has generated confusion about which vehicles are actually affected.
The government’s auto safety agency is now warning 7.8 million car owners that inflator mechanisms in the air bags can rupture, causing metal fragments to fly out when the bags are deployed. An initial warning issued Monday covered 4.7 million vehicles.
Safety advocates say at least four people have died from the problem, which they claim could affect more than 20 million cars nationwide. The inflators are made by Japanese parts supplier Takata Corp.
Car owners might experience some uncertainty, however, in determining if their vehicle is equipped with the potentially dangerous air bags. The warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers certain models made by BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota.
Most of the 7.8 million vehicles are subject to existing recalls. But manufacturers have limited the recalls to high-humidity areas, excluding cars and trucks in states to the north. NHTSA says owners in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii and “limited areas near the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana” should pay special attention to the warning.
Worse yet, the regulatory agency has twice corrected the number of vehicles affected and acknowledged that a list it released Monday included some cars not equipped with Takata air bags while omitting others that have them. The agency urged people to use its website to see if their cars are affected — but a feature allowing people to check for recalls by vehicle identification number malfunctioned Monday night and still wasn’t operational Wednesday.
Automakers have been recalling cars to fix the problem for several years, but neither Takata nor NHTSA have identified a firm cause. The agency opened a formal investigation into the problem in June, and a theory put forth in agency documents suggests the chemical used to inflate the air bag can be altered by high humidity, making it explode with too much force while deploying.
“It’s in a total state of uproar right now,” said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader.
NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman said in a statement that responding to the recalls is essential to keep people safe.
“It will aid in our ongoing investigation into Takata air bags and what appears to be a problem related to extended exposure to consistently high humidity and temperatures,” he said. The agency, he said, is tracking down the “full geographic scope” of the issue.
Kathryn Henry, a spokeswoman for the safety agency said it is unclear whether a high number of inquiries from car owners caused its website to malfunction, and she didn’t know when it would be repaired. For now, she urged car owners to go to manufacturer websites or call their car dealer.
General Motors, which sold two models with the faulty air bags that were made by other manufacturers, planned to send letters by overnight mail to notify about 10,000 customers. The models covered are 2003 to 2005 Pontiac Vibes in high humidity areas and Saab 9-2X models. Vibes were made by Toyota, while the Saabs were made by Subaru.
The rare warning by regulators comes three weeks after a Sept. 29 crash near Orlando, Florida, that claimed the life Hien Thi Tran, who suffered severe neck wounds that investigators said could have been caused by metal fragments flying out of the air bag on her 2001 Honda Accord. Her Accord was among the models being recalled.
One police agency concluded that the air bags caused her wounds, while another is still investigating. NHTSA is seeking information in the case.
On Monday, Toyota issued a recall covering passenger air bags in 247,000 older model vehicles including the Lexus SC, Corolla, Matrix, Sequoia and Tundra. Like many earlier recalls, Toyota’s covers vehicles in South Florida, along the Gulf Coast, in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa — all areas that have high absolute humidity.
Toyota said it’s working with Takata to pinpoint the cause of the rupture and to gauge the influence of high absolute humidity, which is a measurement of water vapor in the air.