Tennessee Company Refuses U.S. Plea To Recall 67-M Air Bag Inflators

A Tennessee company could be heading for a legal battle with US auto safety regulators after refusing a request that millions of dangerous air bag inflators be recalled, Tom Krisher reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is demanding that ARC Automotive Inc. of Knoxville recall 67 million inflators in the US because they could explode and hurl shrapnel.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is demanding that ARC Automotive Inc. of Knoxville recall 67 million inflators in the US because they could explode and hurl shrapnel.

At least two people have been killed in the US and Canada, and seven others have been hurt as a result of defective ARC inflators, the agency said.

The recall would cover a large portion of the 284 million vehicles now on US roads, but the percentage is difficult to determine. Some have ARC inflators for both the driver and front passenger.

In a letter posted Friday, the agency told ARC that it has tentatively concluded after an eight-year investigation that ARC front driver and passenger inflators have a safety defect.

“Air bag inflators that project metal fragments into vehicle occupants, rather than properly inflating the attached air bag, create an unreasonable risk of death and injury,” Stephen Ridella, director of NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation, wrote in a letter to ARC.

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