A new complaint regarding faulty airbags from a company other than Takata has come to light, as a driver reported an explosion while driving, causing the airbags to deploy unexpectedly.
The driver, Kostas Kyriakou, speaking on the Protoselido programme, identified the airbags as being manufactured by the company ARC. “In the United States, they are recalling 52 million airbags of this brand,” he stated.
Recounting his experience, Kyriakou said that while driving from Larnaca to Nicosia, just before the Kalispéra traffic lights at a speed of 30 km/h, a deafening explosion occurred.
“I didn’t understand what happened; I thought there was an explosion in a vehicle next to me. A strange smell filled the car. I felt the steering wheel becoming heavy and parked the vehicle on the left,” he explained.
He noted that after exiting the car, he realised there were small, hard plastic fragments on both the rear and front seats. “Twenty minutes earlier, I had dropped off my grandchildren from the car,” he emphasised.
Recalls in the United States
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating potentially defective airbags by ARC for years. The investigation has sparked a dispute between automakers and regulators, attempting to prevent what could become the second-largest recall in history.
NHTSA’s efforts aim to avoid a scenario similar to the Takata airbag case. However, automakers have strongly contested the proposed recall, citing concerns over its scale, which could lead to significant financial impacts amounting to billions of dollars.
As NHTSA considers recalling nearly 52 million airbags manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc., automakers have raised objections, arguing there is insufficient evidence to justify such a massive recall.
Conversely, NHTSA reported in May that it identified at least seven cases of ruptured airbags causing injuries, including two fatal incidents between 2009 and March 2023.
