Fiat Chrysler to Halt Use of Dangerous Air Bag Inflators 21 June 2016

Fiat Chrysler to halt use of dangerous air bag inflators 21 June 2016

are safe.

FCA expects to stop using inflators without the drying chemical in global production by mid- September.

The passenger-side air bag on the 2016 Jeep Wrangler is the last FCA inflator in use in North America without a drying agent. FCA says it's unaware of that part failing.

Members of Congress have criticized automakers for selling vehicles that have Takata inflators without the drying agent because eventually they will have to be recalled. In this Friday, May 6, 2016, file photo, Tina Nguyen works on a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica on an assembly line Takata uses the chemical ammonium nitrate to at the Windsor Assembly Plant, in Windsor, Ontario. On create a small explosion to fill air bags in a crash. Tuesday, June 21, 2016, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles But over time and when exposed to high heat and announced that during the following week, the company plans to stop producing new vehicles in North America humidity, the chemical can deteriorate and burn too with the most dangerous type of Takata air bag inflators. fast. It then can blow apart a metal canister Fiat Chrysler said its factories will stop using inflators designed to contain the explosion. that don't have a chemical drying agent. Inflators with a drying agent have been shown in tests to be much safer. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) Administration concedes that new cars with Takata inflators that don't have the drying agent will have to be recalled. But the agency says it takes at least six years for ammonium nitrate to deteriorate and By next week, Fiat Chrysler plans to stop pose a danger. The agency has a schedule to producing new vehicles in North America with the recall all inflators without the drying agent during most dangerous type of Takata air bag inflators. the next three years.

The company says its factories will stop using Recalls have been slowed because Takata and inflators that don't have a chemical drying agent. other inflator manufacturers can't make Inflators with a drying agent have been shown in replacement parts fast enough. tests to be much safer. © 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Takata inflators can explode with too much force and send shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least 11 people have died worldwide due to the problem. Automakers are recalling up to 69 million inflators in the U.S. without the drying agent. Inflators with the drying agent also could be recalled in a few years if Takata can't prove they

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APA citation: Fiat Chrysler to halt use of dangerous air bag inflators (2016, June 21) retrieved 30 September 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2016-06-fiat-chrysler-halt-dangerous-air.html

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