The Takata airbag inflator saga continues as GM tells NHTSA some Takata airbag safety risks are inconsequential. As surprising as that may seem, the company asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to relieve it of any notification and remedy obligations pertaining to some passenger-side airbag inflators in its GMT900 vehicle platform. If granted, GM will not have to tell vehicle owners and lessors about the defects in these airbag inflators, much less replace them.
The Takata airbag inflator saga continues as GM tells NHTSA some Takata airbag safety risks are inconsequential. As surprising as that may seem, the company asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to relieve it of any notification and remedy obligations pertaining to some passenger-side airbag inflators in its GMT900 vehicle platform. If granted, GM will not have to tell vehicle owners and lessors about the defects in these airbag inflators, much less replace them.
Takata filed a Defect Information Report (DIR) with NHTSA in May of 2016 when it discovered a defect in some of its passenger-side airbag inflators. When a DIR is filed by an automotive supplier, it then becomes the vehicle manufacturers’ responsibility to file a DIR of its own regarding the affected models. GM filed two DIRs on May 27, 2016. However, GM’s DIRs came with an attachment in which the company called the recalls “preliminary” as it didn’t agree that a defect actually existed in the inflators used in the GMT900 platform. GM’s statement included its expectations of providing NHTSA with “additional test data, analysis or other relevant and appropriate evidence in support of our belief that our vehicles do not pose an unreasonable risk to safety.” Despite that stance, the company added that it “will conduct a recall of its airbag inflators covered by the May 2016 Takata DIRs, unless GM is able to prove to NHTSA’s satisfaction that the inflators in its vehicles do not pose an unreasonable risk to safety.”
The company followed up in November 2016 with a petition to NHTSA asking to be absolved of its obligations to inform owners/lessors of the defect and to replace the defective parts. The company believes that the Takata DIR was submitted without any evidence of ruptures in the SPI YP or PSPI-L YD inflators used in the GMT900 vehicles.
Upon what is GM basing its argument? The petition states that there are roughly 52,000 of the affected passenger-side airbag inflators currently in use in GMT900 vehicles and no ruptures have been reported. Further, the company argues that:
- 1,418 of the affected inflators underwent ballistic testing with no ruptures or indications of abnormal airbag deployment;
- 12 of the inflators were subjected to testing involving artificially-produced temperature and humidity cycling without problems;
- A stress-strength interference analysis showed that the inflator propellant in older affected passenger-side inflators had not degraded enough to present a risk of rupture.
Given that GM is the only original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that uses the affected inflators, the company also argues that the inflator design has special features that make them safer, such as greater vent-area-to-propellant-mass ratios, thinner propellant wafers and steel end caps. In further support of its petition, GM asserts that the GMT900 platform itself reduces the risk of inflator rupture due to better temperature cycling as a result of larger passenger cabins and solar-absorbing windows. GM even cites NHTSA’s own expert, Dr. Harold R. Blomquist, whose report concluded that such differences in vehicle platforms may actually impact the level of rupture risk.
The company has also retained a third-party expert to run a long-term aging study to provide an estimate of the service life expectancy of the affected inflators. Orbital ATK was chosen to test certain design variables of the inflators as used in the GMT900 platform. Orbital will examine vent area, wafer thickness, moisture dynamics and other variables. GM hopes that this examination, expected to be finished in August 2017, will prove that the affected inflators pose no long-term risk of rupture.
NHTSA has not yet made its decision on the GM petition. Instead, because the Agency believes GM has been proactive by conducting its own internal investigations of Takata airbag inflators used in the GMT900 platform, it has given GM its blessing to finish the study with Orbital. Once complete, the Agency will review the findings and make its determination as to whether the potential risk is, in fact, inconsequential.
Affected GMT900 Platform Vehicles
The affected vehicles are certain GM trucks and SUVs:
- GMC Sierra 1500
- Chevrolet Silverado 1500
- Chevrolet Silverado 2500/3500
- GMC Sierra 2500/3500
- GMC Yukon
- GMC Yukon XL
- Chevrolet Tahoe
- Chevrolet Suburban
- Chevrolet Avalanche
- Cadillac Escalade
- Cadillac Escalade EXT
Affected model years are determined by sales zone (i.e., states and U.S. territories in which the GMT900 platform is sold).
Zone A
Model year 2007-2011 of the above-listed vehicles in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Zone B
Certain model year 2007-2008 vehicles in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
One finds it disturbing, despite GM’s assertions, that this petition for inconsequentiality is being considered. It’s similar to saying that a supplier of ingredients to a pharmaceutical company discovered a problem with its product but, because no one has yet to be injured and the pharmaceutical company believes the risk of injury is minimal, the drug will remain on the market.
Just as could happen with the hypothetical drug, if and when something goes wrong with the passenger-side airbag inflators in the GMT900 platform, the results could be catastrophic. Faulty airbag inflators have killed over a dozen people. When even Takata, a company that will be lucky to survive the overall recall crisis, says there’s a problem with certain types of its inflators, OEMs would do well to listen. Yet, if the Orbital ATK study produces satisfactory data, NHTSA is likely to grant GM’s inconsequentiality petition.
In other words, GM will be absolved of any notice/replacement responsibility for the Takata-reported defect in the passenger-side airbags. The defect will be considered inconsequential. That is, until someone dies.
As happens with such petitions, the public is invited to comment, provide written data and arguments for or against granting GM’s request. Instructions to do so are found here, and the comment window closes on September 14, 2017.
If you would like general information on Takata airbag inflator ruptures and recalls, please visit http://www.safercar.gov/rs/takata/index.html.
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