ATLANTA — Federal regulators took a big step toward a recall of millions of potentially dangerous airbags. Channel 2 investigates first reported on the concerns with ARC Airbag Inflaters back in May.
Regulators at the Department of Transportation first asked ARC to recall the airbags and the company refused. Now, they are looking to order a recall. To do that, there has to be a public hearing and one was held this week.
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It’s been an eight-year-long investigation into potential safety risks from the airbag inflators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the inflators are linked to at least seven injuries and one death in the United States.
“Data and evidence suggest that this will happen again. The timing is unpredictable,” said Sharon Yukevich with the Office of Defects Investigation.
In May, Channel 2 Action News showed you the result. A woman’s attorney described to Gray the severe injuries she suffered when an airbag with an ARC inflator deployed. The attorney showed a piece of shrapnel that doctors removed from the woman’s neck.
“My client was catastrophically injured,” Attorney Andrew Parker Felix told Gray.
NHTSA held a public discussion about the extent of the risk before making a final decision from inflators manufactured by ARC Automotive and some made by Delphi Automotive Systems.
“ARC respectively disagrees with NTHSA’s position,” said Stephen Gold, vice president of product integrity for ARC Automotive.
ARC said it has been cooperating with the investigation, but argue with less than a dozen reported incidents, a recall is not needed.
“ARC has not found a systemic defect,” Gold said.
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“They’re not acceptable casualties in a game of corporate Russian roulette,” said Kevin Fitzgerald with Recall Awareness.
Fitzgerald resigned from his former job at another airbag company, Takata, and became a whistleblower after their airbags were linked to more than two dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries worldwide.
Tens of millions of those Takata airbags were recalled.
Channel 2 Action News has shown you what it looks like when the airbag explodes. The ARC inflators cause the same types of explosions and injuries as the Takata airbag defect.
We know at least 12 vehicle manufacturers use the ARC inflators, but it’s unknown which car makes and models may have the allegedly faulty parts.
“It’s time to close the investigation and get them off the road,” Fitzgerald said.
The public can also weigh in and submit comments to DOT about the airbag safety concerns. The department will consider all the input they heard this week and the public comments before making a decision on the recall.
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