Photo: screenshot from ARC Automotive
So you thought that only Takata can make potentially deadly airbag inflators? Think again! As it happens, the safety watchdogs at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have opened an investigation into ARC Automotive as well.
In Takata’s case, the propellant is the main offender, the element which makes the airbag inflator rupture, then hurl shrapnel in the driver’s face at high velocity. That said, let’s focus on the problem over which ARC Automotive, the company which describes itself as “the leader in propellant and inflator technology,” could pay dearly for if proven guilty.
According to the Office of Defects Investigation, a preliminary evaluation was opened in July 2015 due to “two injury incidents involving a driver airbag inflator rupture. One incident involved a 2002 Chrysler Town & Country that utilized a dual-stage air bag inflator [manufactured by ARC Automotive]. The other involved a 2004 Kia Optima that utilized a single-stage inflator.” Both of those defective airbags were made in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In July 2016, Transport Canada has reported an incident involving a driver airbag rupture in a 2009 Hyundai Elantra. It was a fatal injury, unfortunately, with the airbag having ruptured in “the same manner as the two previous incidents known to ODI.” And now, brace yourselves for a plot twist. The ARC Automotive airbag inflator in the Elantra was manufactured in China.
Given the circumstances, the time is high for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to upgrade the preliminary evaluation into a full-blown engineering analysis. If proven faulty, then the only thing left to do is to issue a recall and replace those airbag inflators.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that as many as 8 million vehicles sold or leased in the United States of America have been equipped with the faulty airbag inflators from ARC Automotive. Specific models and model years have yet to be disclosed, but the safety watchdogs do mention that affected automakers include GM, Chrysler, Hyundai, and Kia.
Before I wrap this up, it is worth highlighting that the airbag inflators made by ARC Automotive are different from those manufactured by Takata. As per the NHTSA, the airbags are "a hybrid design that fills the air bag by releasing an inert gas mixture stored in the inflator at high pressure. The gas mixture is augmented by an ammonium nitrate based propellant. The pressurized gas mixture and propellant are contained entirely within a hermetically sealed steel housing isolated from external atmospheric conditions.”
According to the Office of Defects Investigation, a preliminary evaluation was opened in July 2015 due to “two injury incidents involving a driver airbag inflator rupture. One incident involved a 2002 Chrysler Town & Country that utilized a dual-stage air bag inflator [manufactured by ARC Automotive]. The other involved a 2004 Kia Optima that utilized a single-stage inflator.” Both of those defective airbags were made in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In July 2016, Transport Canada has reported an incident involving a driver airbag rupture in a 2009 Hyundai Elantra. It was a fatal injury, unfortunately, with the airbag having ruptured in “the same manner as the two previous incidents known to ODI.” And now, brace yourselves for a plot twist. The ARC Automotive airbag inflator in the Elantra was manufactured in China.
Given the circumstances, the time is high for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to upgrade the preliminary evaluation into a full-blown engineering analysis. If proven faulty, then the only thing left to do is to issue a recall and replace those airbag inflators.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that as many as 8 million vehicles sold or leased in the United States of America have been equipped with the faulty airbag inflators from ARC Automotive. Specific models and model years have yet to be disclosed, but the safety watchdogs do mention that affected automakers include GM, Chrysler, Hyundai, and Kia.
Before I wrap this up, it is worth highlighting that the airbag inflators made by ARC Automotive are different from those manufactured by Takata. As per the NHTSA, the airbags are "a hybrid design that fills the air bag by releasing an inert gas mixture stored in the inflator at high pressure. The gas mixture is augmented by an ammonium nitrate based propellant. The pressurized gas mixture and propellant are contained entirely within a hermetically sealed steel housing isolated from external atmospheric conditions.”
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