Takata airbags get a pass as NHTSA says automakers won’t need to recall more

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that automakers no longer need to recall vehicles that are equipped with Takata airbags and it is believed that units with dried PSAN airbag inflators are not a safety hazard.

The decision follows years of research into Takata airbags, which largest vehicle recall in US history Since the first recall ordered by NHTSA, the agency has continued to investigate Takata airbags with the specific inflators. It has also been suspected that they are prone to breakage and decomposition when exposed to prolonged heat and moisture.

NHTSA said Volkswagen will recall separate airbags with the inflators – around 370,000 cars – scheduled to launch in December this year. However, 56 million additional airbags remain alone. Instead, the agency will continue to evaluate the units and monitor their “on-site performance”. These other entities “will not pose a security risk in the coming years,” confirmed NHTSA.

Takata airbags are associated with dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries. A total of 19 automakers have recalled vehicles because of faulty airbags that could burst and spit splinters on passengers during deployment.

Opponents of the decision, like the Center for Auto Safety, condemned the NHTSA’s decision not to trigger another recall.

“When it comes to airbags that have dried out, NHTSA has conveniently decided not to conduct its own tests or provide industry information to the public until the point where consumers are least careful,” referring to the announcement date and ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

The group also pointed at NHTSA because it didn’t force automakers to move faster when replacing defective airbags that are already on the recall list, and found that some companies hadn’t even repaired 50% of the affected cars .

Takata Filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and Key Safety Systems took over the company. Today the Chinese company is known as Joysen Safety Systems.

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