Faulty airbags add millions to vehicle recalls this year in US

The automobile airbag, one of the most critical safety components, has emerged as a major concern of automakers and regulators.

The New York Times reported that recalls related to airbags accounted for at least 10 million of the over 30 million cars recalled in the US so far this year.

Seven more automakers said on Monday that they were recalling over 3 million vehicles worldwide as their air bags, made by the Takata Corporation, could rupture and cause debris to fly.

The move adds to a series of recalls related to air bags made by Takata, one of the world's top automotive supply firms, which had run afoul of regulators and prosecutors.

The same defect had led to recalls by several Japanese automakers, including BMW, which recalled a total of 3.6 million cars over the same defect.

Toyota, only a few weeks back  expanded that recall by 2.3 million vehicles - which included many recalled earlier, though for a different air bag as, Takata said, it kept inadequate records.

According to commentators, the number of recalled cars could still increase with automakers discovering more models fitted with defective air bags.

Meanwhile Richard Davies writes in ABC News that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the government's auto safety agency, said BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota would recall cars sold in places where hot, humid weather could potentially affect the air bags.

Older models had air bag inflators that could rupture or might not work properly in a crash, and fragments from the broken components could fly and cause injury.

The automakers all had air bag systems made by Tokyo-based Takata Corp, a supplier of seat belts, air bags, steering wheels and other auto parts.

Takata's air bags had led to multiple recalls in recent months, and in April 2013, Toyota, Honda and Nissan recalled nearly 3.4 million older-model vehicles worldwide due to a problem with the propellant in the air bags that could lead to fires.

He writes that consumers might be suffering from recall fatigue. He quotes Jack Nerad of Kelly Blue Book as saying, he thought it was something the NHTSA was concerned about, something the manufacturers were concerned about. He added, people were just kind of tuning out on this.

''A rather small percentage of recalled cars are actually getting taken in to be fixed and that's a concern,'' he said.