NHTSA Rejects Call for Broader Takata Recall

A U.S. senator’s proposal to recall as many as 90 million more Takata Corp. airbag inflators in the U.S. would overwhelm the airbag industry’s ability to supply replacements and leave consumers confused but no safer, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says.

Carmakers are already recalling more than 29 million inflators under a staged recall process launched by the agency in January to target the devices considered most likely to fail. Airbag suppliers have been scrambling for more than a year to meet demand for replacement inflators.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), ranking member of the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, wants NHTSA to move faster to recall any Takata inflator that uses ammonium nitrate as a propellant. The chemical has been implicated in failures in hot and humid climates that have killed 10 people and injured more than 130 others.

Takata agreed in November under a consent order from NHTSA to recall and replace all such inflators by 2019 unless it can prove the existing devices are safe. The order set a schedule for recalling inflators considered most likely to fail. NHTSA also warned Takata it might decide to recall more devices sooner.

Last month Reuters said the agency was evaluating the merits of more than tripling the existing recalls to cover virtually all Takata inflators currently in use in the U.S. That is exactly what Nelson wants NHTSA to do.

But Administrator Mark Rosekind says ordering up such a massive recall would “significantly complicate” the callback process, increase uncertainty for consumers and divert efforts to recall the highest-risk devices.