WASHINGTON — Under pressure from U.S. safety regulators, Takata Corp. has agreed to declare 33.8 million air bags defective, a move that will double the number of cars and trucks included in what is now the largest auto recall in U.S. history.
The chemical that inflates the air bags can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal inflator and sending shrapnel into the passenger compartment. The faulty inflators are responsible for six deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide.
The agreement adds more than 18 million air bags to existing recalls, covering both the passenger and driver’s side. The recalls of passenger-side air bags, previously limited to high-humidity states along the Gulf Coast, are now expanded nationwide by 10.2 million vehicles. A nationwide recall of driver’s side air bags was expanded to include an additional 7.9 million vehicles.
“This is probably the most complex consumer safety recall in U.S. history,”Mark Rosekind, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said.
Safety regulators sparred with Takata for the past year over the size of the recalls and the cause of the problem. For the most part, the air bag maker refused to declare the inflators defective and even questioned the agency’s authority to order it to conduct a recall.
Takata and 11 automakers that use its air bags, including Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., will have to sort out which vehicles are covered by the expanded recalls.
Prior to Tuesday, automakers had recalled 36 million vehicles worldwide because of the problem.
Before Takata, the largest recall in U.S. history was in 1980 when Ford Motor Co. had to fix 21 million cars and trucks with automatic transmissions that could slip into reverse .
Rosekind said the agency and auto industry are still trying to determine precisely what is causing Takata’s inflators to explode, but action needed to be taken immediately.
Takata’s air bags use ammonium nitrate to inflate in a crash. But the chemical, which can be used to make bombs, is volatile. So far, testing has found that airborne moisture can get into the inflators and cause the ammonium nitrate to burn hotter than it should, Rosekind said.
He urged car owners who get recall notices in the mail to immediately make an appointment to get their cars fixed. Owners can key in their vehicle identification number at https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/ to see if their car is part of the recall. The number is stamped on the dashboard near the driver’s side windshield and also can be found on state auto registration documents.
