NHTSA Forces Auto Industry to Speed Up Takata Recalls

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is taking steps to accelerate the recall of faulty Takata airbags, which have caused 11 deaths and 180 injuries in the U.S. so far.

The agency issued an amended order that sets a timeline for when Takata and automakers must have replacement parts available, and deadlines for carrying out the repairs. It also makes sure that parts are available first to the highest risk vehicles. Automakers must tell NHTSA when they have received enough replacement parts to start repairs, and must communicate with consumers using NHTSA’s guidelines.

Currently, automakers have recalled 46 million Takata inflators in 26 million vehicles in the U.S. Over the next three years, more vehicles will be added to the list, for a total of around 64-69 million inflators in 42 million vehicles. NHTSA reported that automakers have only repaired 12.5 million inflators as of December 2.

NHTSA has confirmed that ammonium nitrate in Takata inflators can degrade over time with moisture and high temperatures. If the airbags degrade, the inflators can rupture and shrapnel can be sent flying through the cabin. Some recall remedies have been deemed “like-for-like,” temporary fixes that are the same as the parts being removed, but are newer and thus less likely to degrade. NHTSA eventually wants all these interim repair parts to be replaced.

Despite NHTSA’s efforts to speed up the recall process, it’s likely this saga won’t be over until well into the next decade. In NHTSA’s timeline, the final batch of repairs must start by September 2020, but it could take longer for all of those remedies to be completed.

Source: NHTSA

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