NHTSA is investigating a possible deadly flaw in 12.3 million vehicles that could prevent airbags from deploying in a crash. The issue could be related to as many as eight deaths, the Associated Press reported.
The federal vehicle safety agency on Tuesday posted on its website that it is examining airbag control units initially produced by TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., now owned by ZF Friedrichshafen, that could fail because of “electrical overstress” and prevent the bags and seat belt pretensioners from activating as normal in a crash.
NHTSA said the airbags were installed in some vehicles from the 2010-19 model years sold by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.
The agency, which first opened a probe in 2018, on April 19 upgraded its preliminary evaluation of the airbags to an engineering analysis, the AP reported. The AP story said four deaths that may have been caused by the problem were reported in Hyundai-Kia vehicles and three were reported in in FCA vehicles. The upgrade came after investigators found crashes involving 2018 and 2019 Toyota Corollas in which the airbags did not inflate. One person was killed, according to the AP.
Fiat Chrysler recalled 1.4 million vehicles with the affected airbag control units in 2016, and NHTSA said it hasn’t found related failures on other vehicles made by the company. An FCA spokesman said the company will cooperate with NHTSA’s investigation.
Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report. It will be updated.
