US bans Chinese air bag components tied to 10 crash deaths

WASHINGTON – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on April 29 banned substandard Chinese replacement automobile air bag inflators after 10 fatal crashes, saying they pose a significant risk to American drivers.

The US auto safety agency said it was aware of 12 crashes in the United States resulting in deaths or serious injury from ruptured replacement air bag inflators made in China by Jilin Province Detiannuo Automobile Safety System Co Ltd, also known as DTN, and illegally imported into the US since May 2023.

All of the deaths have taken place in GM or Hyundai vehicles.

The company in a filing with NHTSA said it “cannot be proven that the inflators in question” were manufactured by the company “nor can it be proven that the accidents were caused by defective inflators.”

The company cited NHTSA’s investigation that at least five companies in China produce substandard inflatable devices, and DTN said it has never directly sold the inflators in question to the US market.

NHTSA said the DTN air bag inflators malfunctioned in otherwise survivable crashes, “sending large metal fragments into drivers’ chests, necks, eyes and faces.”

The agency issued an urgent warning to owners and repair shops in January. NHTSA said the most recent death occurred February 16 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu.

Nine of the replacement air bag inflators in the fatal crashes were installed in used Chevrolet Malibu vehicles and three in Hyundai Sonata vehicles, but NHTSA said it could not confirm the risk is limited to these makes and models.

“Whoever is bringing them into the country and installing them is putting American families in danger,” NHTSA said.

For consumers buying used vehicles that were in a previous crash where the air bag deployed, the air bag should be inspected immediately to ensure that it is a legitimate replacement equivalent to the original, NHTSA said. REUTERS