Stellantis warned the owners of 276,000 older U.S. vehicles to immediately park select Dodge and Chrysler models after federal regulators tied three crash deaths in the past seven months to faulty Takata air bag inflators.
The do-not-drive directive applies to Dodge Magnums, Chargers and Challengers, as well as Chrysler 300s, with model years ranging from 2005 to 2010, The Washington Post reported.
According to NBC News, the warning applies to owners of the previously recalled sedans who have not yet addressed Takata driver-side air bag recalls.
Stellantis said replacement driver-side air bags have been available for the vehicles subject to the stop driving notice since 2015. The company also claimed that it made a total of 150 attempts to convince the owners of the vehicles involved in the three fatal crashes to get recall repairs completed, the network reported.
The Post detailed two of the three recent crashes, noting that in both cases the driver-side air bag exploded with excessive force.
Ann Carlson, acting administrator of the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, called the recalled air bags “increasingly dangerous” as the affected vehicles continue to age.
“An exploding Takata air bag can send metal fragments toward the driver or passengers, and this shrapnel can kill — and has — killed or maimed people,” Carlson said in a prepared statement.
According to the Post, the federal agency has forced recalls of 67 million of the defective Takata air bags since 2013. The now defunct Japanese firm pleaded guilty in 2017 to criminal wrongdoing to resolve charges that it covered up said defects, paying a $1 billion penalty that included $125 million for a victim compensation fund and $850 million for automakers to finance repairs.