Ford is recalling nearly 391,000 Ranger pickups because the driver’s air bag inflators can explode with too much force and cause injuries.
The recall covers trucks from the 2004 through 2006 model years in the U.S. and Canada.
It comes just days after the government announced that a South Carolina man was killed when an inflator exploded in December. Joel Knight, 52, of Kershaw died when he was struck in the neck by metal shrapnel after his 2006 Ranger hit a cow in the road and struck a fence.
The government says automakers will recall another 5 million vehicles equipped with faulty inflators made by Takata Corp. of Japan. Some of the recalls are because of the crash that killed Knight, with the rest due to air bags failing in lab tests.
Other automakers are expected to announce more recalls soon as the Takata inflator mess continues to grow. It now covers 14 auto and truck makers and totals about 24 million vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the number of recalls is likely to expand further.
Takata uses the chemical ammonium nitrate to cause a small explosion that creates gas and inflates air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to high heat and humidity and burn too fast, blowing apart a metal canister designed to contain the explosion.
Knight is the 10th known death worldwide due to the inflators, and more than 100 people have been hurt.
Ford says it will send letters to owners about the recall starting the week of Feb. 22. Although it has some replacement parts available, the company is working with air bag makers to make additional inflators as soon as possible, spokesman John Cangany said.
The Rangers also were recalled last year to replace the passenger air bag inflators. Ford says customers can find out if their trucks are included by going to Ford.com and clicking on “safety recalls.” Then they can enter their vehicle identification number to check.
Knight hit the cow at about 6:20 p.m. on South Carolina Route 522 not far from Columbia. If not for the inflator rupture, the crash would have been moderate and wouldn’t have killed him, said Amanda Dotter, spokeswoman for the Elrod Pope Law Firm, which is representing his family.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
Maybe it’s time to ask whether people would be better off in a crash without airbags. These gadgets have added a lot of expense to cars. I’m not sure that adding an explosion to a car crash really helps most motorists.
It could be safety over done? Meanwhile potential terrorists are imported by the thousands? The govt seems to be interested in ABCs. Anybody but citizens? I wonder where our govt went?
There’s a lot of reasons why airbags and seatbelts can kill as well as save. Most of them involving factors that are dismissed as “statistically insignificant” in the beancounter arguments about the “good of the Many.” You want ’em, have ’em. But don’t force it on people who may be getting the short end of the stick.
Seat belts and air bags create as many health issues as they solve.i have a neck n shoulder messed up due to seat belt. Would have been better of if I wasn’t wearing at the time. Has created Lots of pain issues for me .
All air bag inflator should be replaced every few years as they all deteriorate and become dangerous and or unreliable. The concept of a chemical explosive charge like this lasting the life time of the vehicle is not realistic.
don’t buy a focus . The transmission is no good , and ford does not know how to fix it!!!
A lot of recalls in the automobile industry in the recent past. Maybe drug and alcohol testing should be mandatory on a random basis with all design team members and the assembly line as well. They are playing with people’s lives every day. One infraction should be immediate termination with loss of benefits, from the top down.