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Ford Ordered To Recall 3 Million Vehicles Over Airbag Defect That Can Spray Passengers With Potentially Deadly Metal Pieces

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Andrew Jose Contributor
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The Ford Motor Company must recall 3 million vehicles with supposedly defective Takata airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) turned down Ford and Mazda Motor Corp’s petitions to avoid recalling vehicles with airbags that have potentially dangerous inflators, according to Reuters. (RELATED: GM Forced To Recall 7 Million Vehicles Due To Exploding Airbags)

Mazda will also have to recall and repair driver airbags in roughly 5,800 vehicles, including vehicles of models dating back to the 2006-2012 era.

The vehicles to be recalled consist of several Ford Ranger, Fusion, Edge, Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ, Mercury Milan, Lincoln MKX cars, and Mazda 2007–2009 model year B-Series automobiles, reported Reuters.

The defective inflators can explode or cause airbags not to inflate properly upon deployment, according to the NHTSA. A faulty seal on the inflator is believed to the root of the problem. When the inflator is improperly sealed, moisture can seep into the propellant used to inflate airbags, causing the inflator to malfunction, leading to airbags either deploying slowly during a crash or the inflator deploying aggressively and even exploding, sending lethal metal pieces flying.

Defective Takata inflators have caused the deaths of at least 27 people worldwide, and 18 in the U.S., with over 400 reported injuries, as reported by Reuters.