Government urges owners of old Hondas to get air bags fixed

Government urges owners of old Hondas to get air bags fixed

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government is urging owners of 313,000 older Hondas and Acuras to stop driving them and get them repaired after new tests found that their Takata air bag inflators are extremely dangerous.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that it has data showing that chances are as high as 50 percent that the inflators can explode in a crash, injuring people by sending metal shrapnel into the passenger compartments.

The company said it has reached out to the owners multiple times, but many vehicles remain unrepaired even in high-humidity areas mainly along the U.S. Gulf Coast that are at the highest risk.

Honda says it has used social media, telephone calls, newspaper ads, mail, text and even private investigators to contact owners.