By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – A person was killed in the U.S. last month in a crash tied to banned substandard Chinese replacement automobile air bag inflators, the first such death since the U.S. banned the components in April after they were linked to deaths in 10 crashes.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday that the motorist was killed in Dallas on August 27 in a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox in an otherwise survivable crash.
The agency has banned the replacement air bag inflators it blames for the deaths. They are made in China by Jilin Province Detiannuo Automobile Safety System Co Ltd, also known as DTN.
There have been 13 such incidents reported since May 2023. Three people were killed in Hyundai Sonata vehicles, and 10 GM crashes involved eight fatalities and two serious injuries. All but the last GM incident involved Chevrolet Malibus.
GM did not immediately comment on Thursday.
NHTSA has said the DTN air bag inflators malfunctioned in otherwise survivable crashes, “sending large metal fragments into drivers’ chests, necks, eyes and faces.”
DTN responded to the agency 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.”
DTN added it has never directly sold the inflators in question to the U.S. market.
The agency issued an urgent warning to owners and repair shops in January. Before last month’s death, the last fatal crash occurred in February in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu.
“Whoever is bringing them into the country and installing them is putting American families in danger,” NHTSA said.
It urges owners of vehicles that were involved in a crash with an air bag deployment since 2020 to have their vehicle inspected.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Rosalba O’Brien)
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