The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that ARC Automotive Inc. of Knoxville should recall 67 million inflators in the U.S. because they could explode and hurl shrapnel. At least two people have been killed in the U.S. and Canada, and six others have been hurt as a result of defective ARC inflators, the agency said.
In a letter posted Friday, the agency told ARC that it has tentatively concluded after an eight-year investigation that ARC front driver and passenger inflators have a safety defect. The next step in the process is for NHTSA to schedule a public hearing. It could then take the company to court to force a recall.