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JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): It’s been the worst year ever for auto recalls, and this week provided more disturbing news, the latest concerns, just how many vehicles have air bags that could be dangerous and should be recalled. The air bags made by the Japanese company Takata can rupture, causing metal fragments to fly out and injure someone.
At least four deaths are connected with those ruptures. Federal regulators said this week that roughly eight million vehicles from nearly a dozen manufacturers should have repairs done or the bags replaced. That’s on top of 14 million already recalled worldwide.
Moreover, lawmakers said this week that as many as 30 million vehicles could be equipped with those air bags.
Overall, this year, nationwide, more than 50 million cars and trucks have been recalled for a variety of problems. That is one in five on U.S. roads.
Micheline Maynard has been covering this for Forbes. She is a professor of business journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Micki Maynard, welcome back to the “NewsHour.”
So, the most recalls ever. How big a deal are these — this air bag problem?
MICHELINE MAYNARD, Arizona State University: I think a lot of your listeners probably heard about the General Motors issues with ignition switches.
I actually think this is a bigger problem because it affects far more companies. It affects 11 different car companies, and it affects vehicles that were built from 2000 to 2008. And there are still a lot of those vehicles on the road.
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