A newly vigilant NHTSA has makers scrambling.
BMW of North America is recalling 2008-2011 1-Series cars because the front seat belt pretensioner, if it goes off in an accident, could ignite the insulation surrounding it.
BMW told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a terse filing that it would provide more details as they became available.
This is just the latest example of how a newly vigilant National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which slept through numerous reports of Toyota unintended acceleration deaths, is forcing makers to immediately disclose safety defects, sometime long before a fix is available. (See NHTSA Ups Toyota Death Tally) NHTSA fined Toyota a record 16.4 million dollars for its delays in recalling millions of cars because of unintended acceleration.
Owners may contact BMW at 1-800-525-7417.
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline At 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov. NHTSA Campaign ID number: 10V254000.