Japanese air bag manufacturer Takata is complying with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to solve an issue with its air bags in what could be the largest auto recall in history.
The auto company has already agreed to recall of about 18 million cars in the previous weeks, but the latest order has increased the number to 33.8 million, or roughly one out of seven cars on American roads today, according to CNN Money.
The defective air bags, which explode with shrapnel during an accident, have already caused six deaths among car owners. The victims - five individuals in America and one in Malaysia - seemed to have been shot or stabbed as a result, based on police reports. While most of the victims drove a Honda, other car brands and models made between 2000 to 2011 are also likely to have been fitted with the same dangerous air bags, hence the recall.
"This is the largest recall we know of," said Mark Rosekind, administrator of the NHTSA, USA Today reported. He also said that the situation is "enormously complex," as the recall is expected to take several years to be completed.
Takata, meanwhile, has already issued a statement confirming the faulty air bags.
"The expanded recalls encompass all of the older generation of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate driver inflators manufactured by Takata, from the start of production to the end of production. These are the inflators that have been involved in most of the field incidents where inflators have ruptured," the company siad, CNBC reported.
The company has also paid the corresponding fines to the NHTSA.
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with NHTSA," Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada said, CNN Money reported. "[It} presents a clear path forward to advancing safety and restoring the trust of automakers and the driving public."
To check if your car is part of the recall, you can look at the information from the NHTSA website.
