The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to recall 52 million air bag inflators after finding that they can rupture, causing shrapnel to fly and cause injuries. In the United States, it’s already killed one person and injured seven others, and the agency expressed that there could be more if the inflators aren’t either recalled or replaced.
The air bag inflators were manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc. and Delphi Automotive Systems through January 2018, according to the agency. As air bags continued to rupture, the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation requested in April 2023 that ARC Automotive initiate a recall.
But ARC Automotive argued that the agency lacked “sufficient evidence” that there was a safety defect and that the seven confirmed ruptures that caused injuries were “occasional or isolated failures that are an inevitable part of any volume manufacturing process.”
Delphi Automotive Systems has since been bought by Autoliv ASP, Inc., who may not be liable for the inflators made prior to their acquisition. The NHTSA hasn’t verified whose legal responsibility it would be, but it could fall on the vehicle manufacturers who used the inflators as part of their original equipment.
According to the agency’s investigation, the weld slag is likely causing the ruptures. When the weld slag gets dislodged, it can block the inflator’s exit orifice when the air bag deploys, causing the inflator to rupture due to over-pressurization. It has the potential to propel…
