|
 The U.S. auto safety regulator also warned of the risks of moving
to a nationwide recall, as senators have urged, saying such a move
could divert replacement parts from humid regions where the
defective air bags are more likely to rupture upon deployment,
shooting metal shards into cars.
At least five fatalities have been linked to the defect so far,
mostly in the United States.
The hearing by the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee exposed several
blind spots of regulators and the auto industry about the scope and
urgency of the air bags' dangers.
About 16 million cars with Takata air bags have been recalled
worldwide, with more than 10 million of those in the United States.
But regulators and Takata, which supplies one in five air bags
globally, have yet to pinpoint why the parts are at risk.
Hiroshi Shimizu, Takata's senior vice president for global quality
assurance, acknowledged that even if the company ramps up production
of replacement kits beyond the current pace of 300,000 a month, it
may still not have enough parts. "Even if we increase to 450,000,
maybe still that's not speedy enough," he said.
 David Friedman, deputy administrator of the U.S. National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), told the committee his agency
is in touch with two other suppliers to determine whether they are
able to make replacement parts.
Friedman came under fire for NHTSA allowing automakers to send out
notices of "safety campaigns" rather than formal recalls, leaving
customers confused over the severity of the problem. Friedman said
his agency would have more control over automakers if Congress
passed legislation raising the maximum allowable fine to punish
uncooperative automakers, which is currently capped at $35 million.
"We now have a new problem that we are addressing, which is in
effect a live hand-grenade in front of a driver and a passenger,"
said Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, who chaired the hearing, the
first to examine the deadly air bag saga that came to light in 2008
and has escalated in recent months.
The hearing held high stakes for Takata, which is facing a criminal
probe into the scandal, more than 20 class action lawsuits and an
NHTSA probe.
When pressed by Republican Senator Dean Heller for Takata to take
"full responsibility" for five deaths linked to the air bags,
Shimizu consulted a colleague multiple times. He answered that two
of the five fatalities were still under investigation, but
acknowledged "anomalies" with Takata air bag parts involved in some
fatal accidents. Shimizu said in his prepared comments that Takata
was "deeply sorry and anguished about each of the reported
instances."
Rick Schostek, Honda Motor Co's <7267.T> North American executive
vice president, was also asked about the slow rollout of recalls
that started in 2008. It was only this month that the automaker
turned its "safety improvement campaign" into a formal recall. "I
think we acted with urgency, but do I think we could have moved
faster in some respects? I absolutely do," he said.
[to top of second column] |
'ROOT CAUSES'
Shimizu said Takata believes the "root causes" of the air bag
inflator ruptures are a combination of the age of the inflator,
persistent exposure to high humidity, and problems in production.
The recalls so far have been focused on humid areas. That approach
was questioned at a news conference before the hearing, when two
U.S. senators linked the air bag defect to a 2003 death in Arizona,
which is not considered a humid area.
Charlene Weaver, 24, died in a Takata air bag-related accident while
she was a passenger in a 2004 Subaru Impeza in Arizona, her sister,
Kim Kopf, said. That model car was not recalled until July of this
year.
A Subaru spokesman said the company was just learning of the
incident but that, in general, there are many factors in any
accident. He added the company has no information to suggest the
fatality could be linked to the defect that is the focus of the
current recall.
The senators raised the possibility of Weaver's death as the sixth
fatality linked to Takata air bags and the first reported outside of
Honda vehicles.
Democratic Senator Ed Markey said the incident shows the need for a
nationwide recall. "Every single one of these Takata air bags could
be a ticking time bomb," he said.
NHTSA on Tuesday called on Takata and five automakers to expand
their regional recalls of driver-side air bags to cover the entire
United States, as senators have urged. But NHTSA's Friedman said a
parallel move to recall passenger-side air bags nationwide would
risk diverting parts from regions of high humidity, where they are
judged to be at highest risk.
"At this point, a national recall of all Takata air bags would
divert replacement air bags from areas where they are clearly
needed, putting lives at risk," he said.
Japan's Transport Minister Akihiro Ohta said on Friday he was asking
automakers to determine if it was necessary to widen a safety recall
in Japan given the U.S. action. Over 2.5 million vehicles have been
recalled in Japan for Takata air bags.
(Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit, Doina Chiacu and
Elvina Nawaguna in Washington and Mari Saito in Tokyo; Writing by
Julia Edwards; Editing by Karey Van Hall, Matthew Lewis, Ken Wills
and Ian Geoghegan)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
