US Pressures Air-bag Firm To Recall

ARC Automotive is being pressured by the U.S. government to recall 67 million dangerous air bag inflators. The company must answer questions under oath or face fines.

NHTSA thinks the recall is reasonable due to two deaths and seven injuries caused by ARC inflators. They can blow up too hard and scatter sharp metal pieces. Such accidents happened first in 2009 and kept occurring until now.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked ARC some questions. Their questions are about inflators. They want to know if the inflators will break soon. They also want to know if ARC told their customers about this risk.

The agency asked ARC Automotive Inc. from Knoxville to recall the inflators. They can break a metal canister. ARC declined, so there could be a court case.

ARC says there is no safety defect. They think NHTSA's order is just a guess, not based on facts. ARC also believes that NHTSA can't make them do a recall.

The inflators may be broken according to NHTSA. There are a few more steps to go before a final decision can be made including a public hearing and possibly a lawsuit for a recall.

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