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Airbag Recall Queries Swamp NHTSA’s Web Site

Concerned car owners in the U.S. clogged the government's recall Web site on Tuesday within hours after safety officials announced plans to recall 34 million cars to replace Takata Corp. airbag inflators that could explode when activated.
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Concerned car owners in the U.S. clogged the government's recall Web site on Tuesday within hours after safety officials announced plans to recall 34 million cars to replace Takata Corp. airbag inflators that could explode when activated.

The National Highway Traffic Administration says traffic to its safercar.gov site surged to a record 440,000 visits. That's four times the previous high for the site, which averages about 10,000 hits per day.

NHTSA is urging owners to use the site to determine whether their vehicles are part of the unprecedented campaign. But the agency also says it could take several days before the site becomes completely functional.

The recalls themselves are expected to be staged in phases, beginning with vehicles in high temperature/high humidity regions where the likelihood of a problem is highest. NHTSA has cautioned it will take years for Takata and other inflator manufacturers to produce enough inflators to update all 34 million targeted vehicles.

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