12/12/2022 0 Comments Hyundai kia airbag class actio“It’s not a question of whether it can kill or injure people. “It’s almost like Groundhog Day here,” said Kane, who asserts that NHTSA should have acted already. Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies Inc., which conducts research for lawyers that sue automakers as well as for other groups, noted that just as in the early stages of the Takata ordeal, many ARC ammonium nitrate inflators remain in use. So far NHTSA has gathered information but hasn’t forced any wider recalls from its investigation that began in July of 2015. There have so far been five limited recalls of the inflators that totaled about 5,000 vehicles, including three recalls by GM.Īuto safety advocates say the case seems to mirror the Takata air bag saga that began in the early 2000s, which also involved exploding air bag inflators and resulted in 28 deaths worldwide, hundreds of injuries and the largest automotive recall in U.S. roads and two other times in testing by ARC. The plaintiffs allege that ARC inflators have blown apart seven times on U.S. Ammonium nitrate, used in fertilizer and as a cheap explosive, is so dangerous that it can burn too fast even without moisture present, the lawsuit says. The explosion can blow apart a metal canister housing the chemical, sending metal shards into the cabin. Degraded tablets have a larger surface area, causing them to burn too fast and ignite too big of an explosion, according to the lawsuit. The propellant is pressed into tablets that can expand and develop microscopic holes if exposed to moisture. The plaintiffs allege that ARC’s inflators use ammonium nitrate as a secondary propellant to inflate the air bags. Messages were left seeking comment from ARC and Ford. It said it is dedicated to the safety of its products and customers and is cooperating with NHTSA in its investigation. In a statement Tuesday, GM said it hadn’t had a chance to review the lawsuit. Police reports show that a metal inflator fragment hit her neck in a crash involving a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse SUV. One of the deaths was a mother of 10 who was killed in what appeared to be an otherwise minor crash in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula last summer. “You could have a ticking time bomb in your lap and you’ve got no way of knowing,” said Frank Melton, a Florida lawyer who is among those filing the new lawsuit. Even if they were to tear apart the steering wheel assembly, the internal parts might bear the markings only of the automaker or the air bag manufacturer, not the inflator maker. #Hyundai kia airbag class actio driversYet most drivers have no conclusive way to determine whether their vehicle contains an ARC inflator. That's somewhere between 10% and 20% of all passenger vehicles. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has been investigating ARC inflators for nearly seven years without a resolution, estimates that there are 51 million on U.S. The five plaintiffs are the owners of vehicles with ARC inflators who contend the defective air bag parts were not disclosed when they made their purchases. The air bag makers, in turn, sold them to General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen, which are named in the lawsuit, too. of Knoxville, Tennessee, which made the inflators and sold them to air bag manufacturers. The federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday in San Francisco, names ARC Automotive Inc. Two deaths and at least four injuries have been linked to such explosions. DETROIT - A class action lawsuit is accusing three automakers and a parts manufacturer of knowingly selling vehicles containing air bag inflators that are at risk of exploding.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |