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Deadly Air Bags Spark US Safety Alert
31 Jan
Summary
- Nine deaths linked to faulty Chinese air-bag inflaters.
- Used car owners urged to verify air bag authenticity.
- NHTSA warns against using non-genuine air bag parts.
Federal regulators have issued an urgent safety warning for used-car owners in the United States concerning potentially deadly air-bag components. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting the public due to nine confirmed fatalities in otherwise survivable car accidents, where air-bag parts supplied by DTN Airbag ruptured. These incidents, including two recent ones in December in Texas and Ohio, involved metal fragments from the inflaters causing severe injury or death.
NHTSA estimates that as few as 10,000 DTN inflaters might be in vehicles on American roads. The Chinese company DTN Airbag manufactures air-bag inflaters, which ignite to deploy air bags during a crash. While DTN asserts its business is limited to inflaters and that its products are prohibited from sale in the U.S., NHTSA believes these parts have entered the U.S. aftermarket supply, possibly illegally imported.
Unlike typical recalls, addressing the DTN issue is challenging due to the company's overseas operations and the nature of the parts being sold as aftermarket replacements. NHTSA advises that vehicles experiencing past air-bag deployment should be inspected by a certified technician. If a DTN inflater is found, the vehicle should not be driven until the part is replaced with genuine components.
