DETROIT (KGO) -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is threatening fines and legal action unless airbag manufacturer, Takata, admits its driver's side airbag inflators are defective and agrees to a nationwide recall.
NHTSA gave the Japanese company until Tuesday to file paperwork declaring a defect and agreeing to expand the recall from high-humidity states to the entire nation.
The company's airbags have been blamed for at least five deaths and multiple injuries worldwide. They can inflate with too much force, blowing apart a mental canister and sending shrapnel into drivers and passengers.