A Tennessee company is locking horns with U.S. auto safety regulators after it refused to comply with a request from them to recall millions of potentially dangerous airbag inflators that could injure or kill people.
According to a report in The Associated Press, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is demanding that ARC Automotive Inc. of Knoxville recall 67 million inflators nationwide because they could explode and hurl shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
NHTSA Could Force a Recall Through the Courts
So far, there have been reports of two deaths in North America and seven other injuries as a result of these faulty ARC airbag inflators. The recall would include a significant number of the 284 million vehicles currently on U.S. roads, but the percentage is difficult to determine. Some have ARC inflators for both the driver and front passenger side. NHTSA told ARC in a letter that it has concluded after an eight-year probe that the ARC front driver and passenger side inflators have a safety defect.
Stephen Ridella, director of NHTSA’s Office of Defect Investigation, wrote in the letter to ARC that the “airbag inflators that project metal fragments into vehicle occupants, rather than properly inflating the attached airbag, create an unreasonable risk of death and injury.” However, ARC responded to the letter saying no defect exists in the inflators and that any problems are “related to isolated manufacturing issues.”
The next step for NHTSA is to schedule a public hearing. The agency could potentially take ARC to court and force a recall. ARC said in a statement that they disagree with NHTSA’s “new sweeping request when extensive field-testing has found no inherent defect.” General Motors this month also recalled nearly 1 million vehicles equipped with ARC inflators. The recall covers certain 2014-2017 Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse, and GMC Arcadia SUVs.
In its recall documents, GM said the inflator explosion could cause shards of metal to strike the driver or other vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Airbag Inflators Pose Genuine Threat to Lives
The Associated Press reports that one of the two deaths involving these faulty ARC airbag inflators involved a mother of 10 who was killed in what appeared to be a relatively minor crash in Michigan in 2021. Police reports from that crash show that a metal inflator fragment hit the woman’s neck in a crash involving a Chevrolet Traverse SUV. According to NHTSA, at least a dozen automakers have the allegedly faulty airbag inflators in use, including Volkswagen, Ford, BMW, and GM.
The agency said welding debris from the manufacturing process could block an “exit orifice” for gas that is released to inflate the airbag in the event of a crash. Any such obstruction can cause pressure to build inside the inflator triggering an explosion and sending metal fragments flying into the vehicle compartment, officials say. However, ARC representatives responded saying that the welding debris has not been confirmed as the cause of any of the seven inflator ruptures in the United States. ARC also argues that only five have ruptures while in use. It claims that “does not support a finding that a systemic and prevalent defect exists.” In addition, ARC has attempted to pass the buck by saying that issuing safety recalls is not the job of equipment manufacturers, but automakers.
ARC is already facing a number of auto defect lawsuits where plaintiffs allege that ARC’s inflators use ammonium nitrate as a secondary propellant to inflate the airbags, the same chemical found in defective Takata airbags. When it degrades in humid and hot climates, that could cause them to burn too quickly and trigger a massive explosion, lawsuits say. Ammonium nitrate, which is an ingredient in fertilizers, is a cheap explosive that is so dangerous that it could burn even when there is no moisture present.
Holding All Manufacturers Accountable
As auto product lawyers who continue to represent victims who have been injured by faulty auto parts and families that have lost loved ones as a result of such negligence, we disagree that safety recalls are not the responsibility of equipment manufacturers. All product manufacturers have the duty to recall unsafe products they make as soon as they learn that those products are causing injuries. We hope NHTSA pushes ARC to recall these dangerous and defective airbags, which, like faulty Takata airbags, have caused unnecessary deaths and injuries.
If you have been injured as the result of a defective ARC or Takata airbag inflator, it is important that you understand your legal rights and options. You may be able to seek compensation for damages, including medical expenses, lost income, cost of hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. In such cases, it is important to preserve the vehicle so it can be assessed by an expert for manufacturing defects, design flaws, and other malfunctions. An experienced auto product liability lawyer will be able to advise victims and their families in such cases.
