A logo of Takata Corp is seen through a car window outside the company's headquarter building in Tokyo. (Photo : Reuters)
United States regulators are planning to expand the current repair facilities that handle the replacement of faulty air bag inflators from Takata. This is part of the directive that was made in order to speed up and prioritize the repairs of affected cars.
A spokesperson from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told the Wall Street Journal, "We will use every tool available to protect public safety." The spokesperson added that the agency has yet to decide whether to step in and take over the management of the current recall situation in order to speed up the repairs.
Part of the directive will be to add more repair facilities in order to accommodate more cars. Part of the plan is also to prioritize those cars that are most vulnerable to the problem.
The Takata air bag recall is one of the largest in US history. It has affected more than 19 million vehicles from more than a dozen auto manufacturers.
At the center of the recall are the Takata airbags that has the tendency to explode during a crash. The explosion is massive enough to send out shrapnel into the car's cabin that can cause injury and even death to the occupants.
The faulty air bag have been linked to at least eight deaths and injured more than a hundred.
According to Reuters, the current Takata air bag recall could expand. A recent report revealed that General Motors was forced to recall 400 newly manufactured vehicles after one car equipped with an air bag from Takata failed a test administered in a Mexican factory.
As of September, affected car manufacturers reported that around 18 percent of the 23.4 million affected vehicles has been fixed.
