Expanded Takata Airbag Recall Would ‘Needlessly Impose New Hardships’

The National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) believes a larger Takata airbag recall would result in an even bigger mess.

Recently it was reported that NHTSA was examining whether an additional 70- to 90-million Takata inflators should be recalled because they might be dangerous. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who is also the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee that is investigating the recalls, followed up by urging NHTSA to recall all the suspect inflators, adding that the agency should move faster to address the “recall fiasco.”

NHTSA administrator, Mark Rosekind, responded by saying that such a massive airbag recall would “needlessly impose new hardships,” considering Takata is already having a tough time supplying all the replacement parts for the 29-million inflators that have been called back. He went on to say that a larger recall would “increase uncertainty for consumers” while significantly complicating the process of supplying replacement parts to high-risk vehicles.

SEE ALSO: The Takata Airbag Recall Might Still Get a Lot Bigger

Nelson released the letter to the public saying, “We need to end this confusion and I think the process has to begin with having NHTSA take a hard look at whether” it should recall up to 90-million Takata airbags with ammonium nitrate-based inflators.

Takata has already agreed to a consent order in November that said it would have to recall and replace all ammonium nitrate inflators by 2019 unless it could prove they are safe.

[Source: Automotive News]