DETROIT (AP) - The U.S. government is urging owners of 313,000 older Hondas and Acuras to stop driving them and get them repaired after new tests found their Takata air bag inflators are extremely dangerous.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday it has data showing chances are as high as 50 percent the inflators can explode in a crash, injuring people by sending metal shrapnel into the passenger compartments.
Takata inflators can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing metal fragments. At least 11 people have died and more than 100 have been injured worldwide from the problem. Authorities in Malaysia are investigating three more deaths that may be linked to the inflators. Seventeen car and truck makers are recalling 69 million inflators in what has become the largest automotive recall in U.S. history.
NHTSA's urgent advisory covers vehicles that are up to 16 years old including 2001 and 2002 Honda Civics and Accords, the 2002 and 2003 Acura TL, the 2002 Honda Odyssey and CR-V, and the 2003 Acura CL and Honda Pilot, NHTSA said. The vehicles are among the oldest involved in the Takata recalls. They were recalled from 2008 to 2011.
About 70 percent of them already have been repaired, the agency said.
The older the inflators are, and the more time they spend in heat and humidity, the more likely they are to malfunction.