Takata air bag recall should cover 20 million cars, senators say

There are calls for an air bag safety recall to be expanded as an investigation found some air bags can shoot out metal shards when they deploy with explosive force.

Already, nearly eight million vehicle owners in the US are being told to get their air bags fixed immediately.

But two senators want a nationwide recall, and safety advocates believe possibly 20 million cars should be recalled. The list of cars with potentially dangerous airbags is growing.

Government safety officials added three million cars to the list, moving the total up to nearly eight million vehicles that "urgently" need their defective airbags replaced.

The airbags were made in Mexico and Washington State by Takata, a Japanese company.

The problem with the airbags is the inflator's explosive deployment, which can send metal shards flying, the investigation found. At least four deaths are linked to the airbags, others suffering injuries.

"This is about as severe as it gets," said Sean Kane, founder, Safety Research and Strategies. "When you have an airbag that's designed to protect you that can explode into shrapnel and kill you, this is a very extreme situation."

The millions of cars under recall for the potentially faulty inflators include Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, BMW and Mitsubishi.

Authorities say warmer, more humid climates could exacerbate the problem.

The senators wanting a nationwide recall say that the recall should not be restricted to higher humidity regions.

Toyota is telling its customers that if it runs out of replacement air bags, it can temporarily disable the passenger air bag until a new one can be installed.