An official from the safety agency this summer estimated that 34 million faulty inflators existed in approximately 30 million cars in the United States. Now, an official of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration releases an update on its figures, revealing that the number of autos possibly plagued by malfunctioning Takata airbag inflators is greatly lesser than the initial estimate.
The NHTSA official, who requested to never be identified by name, has announced in a press briefing the estimate drops to 19.2 million from over 30 million - about 40 percent cut from the original estimate - based on new information from automakers.
Reports say, however, the automotive recall remains the biggest and most complex throughout the history, involving 11 various automakers.
To date, according to a federal officials' report, at least eight deaths and over 100 injuries around the world were already recorded which were associated with airbag inflators manufactured by Takata. The number has attracted the interest of lawmakers, drivers as well as regulators in the US. As a result, Takata has been called to congressional committees to testify.
The NHTSA did say close to 4.4 million inflators have already been replaced as of the moment. A few of the cars have been fixed with interim solutions and may need to be replaced again.
Currently, officials of the NHTSA are doing comprehensive public outreach to tell car owners of the safety problem with the inflators. Reports say the inflators may spew metal debris into a vehicle's cabin which could injure anyone.
The officials will also reportedly organize an event this coming fall to clarify the procedure to be sure affected individuals get their vehicles repaired.
The Takata recall is anticipated to take a long time to complete since new inflators need to be made. Also, officials noted that consumers usually disregard recall notices.
"NHTSA has released the full list of vehicles (by model year, make and model) affected by the Takata airbag recalls. Consumers can also use NHTSA's VIN look-up tool to see if their Vehicle Identification Number matches one of the estimated 32 million vehicles from 11 auto manufacturers involved in the recall," safer.gov, a website powered by the NHTSA reported on a blog post.
