ARC Refuses to Recall Potentially Harmful Airbags, Risking Drivers - Shub & Johns Investigates
Airbag part supplier, ARC, refuses to recall
67 million defective products.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) alerted ARC Automotive, an airbag parts supplier to about one quarter of US vehicles, that reports have reached the NHTSA stating that many airbag inflators have ruptured. These defects have already caused injury to some drivers and vehicle passengers on different occasions.
With ARC supplying roughly 67 million parts in vehicles across the US, the NHTSA implored ARC to immediately withdraw all potentially defective inflators. ARC, however, did not see the NHTSA’s findings to be widescale enough to issue a recall. ARC “strongly disagree[d]” with the NHTSA’s findings as they did not identify “systemic or prevalent defect[s]” with the inflators. ARC goes on to chalk up incidents stemming from exploding airbags to be anomalies or random one-off events.
Though the NHTSA believes these potentially harmful airbag inflators to be an unnecessary and avoidable risk, ARC has not made any indication of recalling the parts.
ARC Automotive provides airbag inflator parts to many car makers and distributors in the US, such as BMW, General Motors, Kia, and Hyundai.
Do you own and/or drive a vehicle that includes, or may include, an ARC-supplied airbag inflator? Have you experienced issues with the airbags, or are worried that airbags may deploy unexpectedly? Tell us your story today! Fill out the attached form to participate in Shub & Johns’ investigation!
