Yesterday, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) urged President Obama to recall every vehicle with airbags using ammonium nitrate as their propellant, and to use “every tool at his disposal” to accelerate the repair of all vehicles with potentially-lethal Takata airbags. The renewed calls for action follow the December death of Joel Knight in South Carolina, who was killed when his truck struck a stray cow. As reported by the New York Times, instead of cushioning the impact from the wreck, the airbag ruptured, firing shrapnel into Mr. Knight’s neck and killing him.
The Senators wrote: