(22 May 1995) English/Nat
The US Transportation Department plans to recall over eight (m) million cars because of suspect Japanese-made seat belts, the largest such recall ever.
In all, eleven car makes fitted with seat belts made by Takata Incorporated of Japan between 1986 and 1991 are affected.
Most of the models are Japanese, but the list includes the U-S big three: Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.
The biggest ever recall of automobiles has been ordered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after documenting a growing problem with seat belts that fail to buckle properly.
63 injuries have been reported from faulty seat belts, all made by the Japanese manufacturer Takata Incorporated.
Owners of the vehicles concerned will have to bring them in to registered dealers for a free replacement:
SOUNDBITE:
Well, I'm not happy about it, it'll be rather a pain I think. It's too bad isn't it for everybody concerned.
SUPER CAPTION: (no caption: Voxpop)
The exact cause of the fault is unknown, but it is thought that over time bright sunlight adversely affects the plastic buckling mechanism.
Most of the cars affected, like this Subaru, are Japanese. The largest single manufacturer is Honda with almost four million models affected.
SOUNDBITE:
Voxpop 1: I'm surprised they've kept it that long.
Voxpop 2: I like it the way it is.
SUPER CAPTION: (No caption - Voxpop)
"The so-called Big Three - Ford, Chrysler and General Motors - are on the list too, but to a lesser degree:
SOUNDBITE:
Well with Ford involves a very small segment. It's mainly in the area of the Festiva and the Tracer. Of course we should be able to handle that. Our models are in the area of about 250-thousand and of course we hope that will be corrected.
SUPER CAPTION: Elliot Hall, Ford Spokesman.
A consumer watchdog has been pressing for the recall, and warn that cars outside the US are likely to be at risk as well.
SOUNDBITE:
Our belief is that we are getting about 8.8 million belts recalled in the U-S and in fact there are another ten million vehicles across the world that may have defective seatbelts in them.
SUPER CAPTION: Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director Centre for Auto Safety.
The cost of the repair in the US is estimated at over one billion dollars (U-S). Takata Incorporated is hoping to share the cost with manufacturers.
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