NHTSA Urged to Reconsider Extensions for Takata Repairs

MEDLEY, FL - MAY 22: A deployed airbag is seen in a Nissan vehicle at the LKQ Pick Your Part salvage yard on May 22, 2015 in Medley, Florida. The largest automotive recall in history centers around the defective Takata Corp. air bags that are found in millions of vehicles that are manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The Center for Auto Safety is the nation’s premier independent, member driven, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to improving vehicle safety, quality, and fuel economy on behalf of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.

The recently reported death involving a Takata airbag in a Ford Ranger in West Virginia should prompt a federal review of extensions granted to manufacturers in recalling millions of vehicles equipped with the defective product, a consumer advocacy group says.
The Center for Auto Safety wants the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, or NHTSA, to reexamine all extensions granted under the Coordinated Remedy Order and amendments, the group said in a recent news release.
The most recent incident brings the total worldwide to 21 known deaths, while millions of vehicles have not yet had their airbags replaced, noted the center, which added: “The time to act, and save lives, is now.”
The NHTSA amended the CRO in November, granting extensions to Ford, Mazda, BMW and Mercedes. The agency did not respond to requests for comment.
The July 2017 fatality in West Virginia was confirmed by Ford in late December as the result of a defective Takata inflator, the second such death in an older Ford truck.
The death occurred in a geographic zone where recalls were slated to start in March 2017, “which was prior to the West Virginia death that took place last summer,” Jason Levine, the center’s director, told The Drive.
Click here to read the full article from The Drive