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OPINION

Air bag recalls deadly slow: Our view

The Editorial Board
USATODAY
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety test of 2002 Honda.

Automobile air bags save about 2,300 lives each year, so when they instead turn deadly — exploding and spewing shrapnel into drivers' bodies — you'd expect urgent action to get the defective products off the road.

Instead, air bag maker Takata and its biggest customer, Honda, conducted glacial, piecemeal recalls that have left drivers in jeopardy.

The reason is no mystery. For Takata, one of the world's largest air bag suppliers, the problem might pose an existential threat. And for Honda, finding and replacing the faulty air bags — installed in many models for many years — imposes a massive cost.

The automaker started by recalling about 4,000 Hondas in 2008, and recalls are continuing today. Along the way, several other automakers have joined in; Nissan expanded its recall on Saturday.

As the recalls dragged on, four people died in the U.S. in accidents linked to the air bags. More than 100 were injured. And until recently, the federal car safety watchdog — the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — has blessed the whole sorry response.

The air bag saga took a sinister twist last week, when The New York Times reported that two former Takata employees have accused the company of hiding the defect a decade ago after an air bag ruptured in Alabama. According to The Times' report, the employees said Takata secretly tested 50 air bags, found a dangerous defect, and ordered that evidence destroyed instead of reporting it to NHTSA. (Takata called the allegations "fundamentally inaccurate" but refused to answer questions.)

The coverup allegations warrant a criminal investigation of Takata, and NHTSA's response also deserves more scrutiny.

When companies fail to act responsibly, it's up to NHTSA to step in. But the agency has fumbled again, just as it did when General Motors failed so deplorably to fix deadly ignition switches.

Initially, Takata blamed its rupturing air bags on a foul-up at a plant in Moses Lake, Wash., and a different problem at a plant in Mexico. In June, Takata blamed exposure to "high levels of absolute humidity" where the cars are driven and agreed to recalls in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

This makes little sense. Other parts of the USA also experience persistently high humidity, and some recalls have expanded to those areas. Last fall, the death of a driver in California was linked to the defect. After more than 12 million cars from 10 makers have been recalled and air bags are still rupturing, why would NHTSA put faith in Takata's advice?

Or for that matter, in Honda? The car maker has strung out recalls over six years. In 2009, it reported to NHTSA what it euphemistically called "unusual driver air bag deployment" after debris killed an 18-year-old Oklahoma driver.

Finally, in recent weeks, the agency ordered Takata and Honda to answer questions under oath. It issued a warning to drivers to "act immediately" to heed recalls, particularly across the Southeast. But that leaves other parts of the country at potential risk — and the question of why NHTSA allowed this slow-motion wreck to go on so long.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

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