Volvo Recall: Air Bag Fragments Killed Driver Of Older Car

DETROIT (AP) — Metal fragments from an exploding air bag inflator killed the driver of an older Volvo, touching off a U.S. recall of up to 54,000 cars, regulators said Saturday. The inflator was made by auto parts supplier ZF/TRW, but U.S. government documents show the devices perform similarly to deadly inflators made by Takata. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is reviewing data with Volvo about other vehicles equipped with the inflators and will decide whether to take further action. ZF/TRW spokesperson Tony Sapienza said Saturday in an email that he didn’t know whether the same inflators were sold to other automakers. NHTSA said the ZF/TRW inflator rupture that caused the death is the only known incident worldwide. The recall covers Volvo S60 and S80 cars from the 2001 through 2003 model years. Volvo said it will replace the driver’s air bag at no cost to customers. Japanese parts maker Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to moisture in the air. The explosion can blow apart a metal canister and hurl shrapnel into the passenger compartment. At least 26 people have been killed worldwide by the inflators, including 17 in the United States. The problem caused the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 63 million inflators recalled. As of September, more than 11.1 million had not been fixed, according to...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Consumer News Recall volvo Source Type: news