FLORIDA — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Wednesday that it's more than doubling the number of Takata airbags being recalled.
The original recall was for 28.8 million airbags, but the new recall totals more than 60 million.
"The largest auto recall in our nation's history just doubled but, unfortunately, the pace at which Takata and the automakers are replacing these faulty airbags has not," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said. "The top priority must be doing whatever is necessary to get these potentially-deadly airbags out of people's cars as quickly as possible. If we wait another three or four years for these to get replaced, more people are likely to die."
The decision comes after the agency's confirmation of the cause behind the inflators' propensity to rupture. Ruptures of the Takata inflators have been tied to 10 deaths and more than 100 injuries in the country. All Takata ammonium nitrate-based propellant driver and passenger frontal air bag inflators without a chemical drying agent, also known as a desiccant, will be recalled.
Takata is required to make a series of safety defect decisions that will support vehicle manufacturer recall campaigns of an additional estimated 35 million to 40 million inflators. The expansion is expected to take place between May 2016 and December 2019.
"Today's action is a significant step in the U.S. Department of Transportation's aggressive oversight of Takata on behalf of drivers and passengers across America," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. "The acceleration of this recall is based on scientific evidence and will protect all Americans from air bag inflators that may become unsafe."
The five recall phases are based on prioritization of risk, determined by the age of the inflators and exposure to high humidity and fluctuating high temperatures that accelerate the degradation of the chemical propellant.
"NHTSA's aggressive actions in 2015 means this recall is already a year ahead of where it would have been if the agency had waited for this research," NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said. "As a result, all of the most dangerous inflators responsible for the deaths and injuries are already under recall."
A combination of time, environmental moisture and fluctuating high temperatures contribute to the degradation of the ammonium nitrate propellant in the inflators. The degradation can cause the propellant to burn too quickly, rupturing the inflator module and sending shrapnel through the air bag and into the vehicle occupants.
"The science clearly shows that these inflators become unsafe over time, faster when exposed to humidity and variations of temperature," Rosekind said. "This recall schedule ensures the inflators will be recalled and replaced before they become dangerous, giving vehicle owners sufficient time to have them replaced before they pose a danger to vehicle occupants."
This is the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history. The NHTSA and manufacturers have committed to seeking a 100 percent recall completion rate.
The recall expansion does not include inflators that include a chemical desiccant that absorbs moisture. There have been no reported ruptures of the desiccated inflators due to propellant degradation.
In 2015, NHTSA imposed the largest civil penalty in its history for Takata's violations of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and for the first time used its authority to accelerate recall repairs to millions of affected vehicles .
Get more information about the Takata air bag inflator recall here.