As Ford Authority reported last December, the the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been mulling the idea of issuing an airbag recall for inflators produced by ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive, some years after Takata airbags prompted the largest automotive recall in American history, though automakers including Ford are fighting that potential action. Thus far, one death and seven injuries have been reported as a result of these defective airbags, which can rupture and send metal fragments flying. If a recall is issued, it would be the second-largest in U.S. history, as it spans around 49 million vehicles produced between 2000 and 2018.
Automakers are arguing that the risks associated with these airbags are “exceedingly small,” but the NHTSA is now moving closer to issuing a new airbag recall that could have a tremendous impact on The Blue Oval. The agency just issued a supplemental initial decision that backs up its original claim pertaining to the defects in these airbags, and is now accepting public comments on the matter before taking additional action.
According to the NHTSA, these faulty airbags have been installed in vehicles from 13 manufacturers – BMW, Fiat-Chyrsler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Tesla, Toyota, and Volkswagen.
The problem with these faulty inflators stems from the use of ammonium nitrate, which is utilized as a secondary propellant to inflate the airbags. That propellant is pressed into tablets that can, when exposed to moisture, develop tiny holes, enlarging their surface area, which can cause them to burn too fast and cause a larger-than-expected explosion that can blow apart a metal canister housing the chemical at such a violent rate that metal shards can be sent flying through the cabin.
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