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GM Seeks To Avoid Takata Air Bag Inflators Recall For Fourth Straight Year

DETROIT (CBS DETROIT/ AP) — For the fourth straight year, General Motors is trying to avoid recalling potentially deadly Takata air bag inflators in thousands of full-size pickup trucks and SUVs.

Takata inflators can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel, killing 24 people and injuring hundreds.

GM petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to exempt it from recalls that were required under a 2015 agreement between Takata and the government.

GM's petition, posted Wednesday by the government, says the inflators are unique to GM and are safe, with no explosions even though nearly 67,000 air bags have deployed in the field.

Under a 2015 agreement with the government, Takata declared the front passenger inflators defective.
GM's efforts to avoid the recalls raise questions about whether the inflators are safe and why NHTSA has taken more than three years to rule on GM's petitions. The first one was filed in May of 2016.

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