Safety concerns grow over air bag inflators linked to 1 death, 7 injuries

WASHINGTON — There are growing safety concerns about some air bag parts linked to at least one death and seven injuries in the U.S.

On Thursday, the Department of Transportation held a public discussion at its headquarters in Washington D.C. as it considers a recall of 52 million airbag inflators. Specifically, the discussion is over inflators in driver- and passenger-side airbags designed and manufactured by ARC Automotive and some made by Delphi automotive systems.

Spokespeople for the auto parts manufacturers argue that, with less than a dozen reported incidents, a recall is not warranted.

But recall advocates say one injury or death is too many.

“They’re not acceptable casualties in a game of corporate Russian roulette,” said Kevin Fitzgerald with Recall Awareness.

“ARC has not found a systemic defect across the 52 million inflators identified in NHSTA’s initial decision,” said Stephen Gold, the company’s vice president of product integrity.

The DOT will consider all the input they heard Thursday, as well as public comments, before making a final decision.

(WATCH BELOW: Driver in Lancaster County killed by exploding air bag inflator, officials say)

Driver in Lancaster County killed by exploding air bag inflator, officials say

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