WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting vehicle owners and repair shops that counterfeit air bags that look identical to original equipment parts are being offered for sale. The replacement parts are said to bear the insignia and branding of major automakers.

After testing, the NHTSA said the counterfeits showed consistent malfunctions, ranging from non-deployment of the air bag to the expulsion of metal shrapnel during deployment. The agency said it’s not aware of any deaths or injuries connected to counterfeit air bags.

While the full scope and scale of the problem of counterfeit air bags is uncertain from currently available data, the NHTSA has identified certain vehicle makes and models for which these air bags may be available. It said that it believes the issue will affect less than 0.1 percent of the U.S. vehicle fleet, adding that only vehicles which have had an air bag replaced within the past three years by a repair shop that is not part of a new car dealership may be at risk.

The full list of call centers and additional information are available at www.SaferCar.gov.

“Any time equipment that is critical to protecting drivers and passengers fails to operate properly, it is a serious safety concern,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We want consumers to be immediately aware of this problem and to review our safety information to see if their vehicle could be in need of inspection.”

With the NHTSA announcement, Carfax released a statement underscoring the importance of checking used cars.            

“Airbags are one of most crucial parts of a car’s safety system,” said Larry Gamache, communications director at Carfax. “We have created a free service to check for prior air bag deployments reported to Carfax at www.carfax.com/airbag. In addition, the airbag systems of any used car, especially those with prior damage, should be inspected by a qualified mechanic, body shop or airbag specialist to ensure they are working properly.”

NHTSA has been working with a number of government agencies — including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Justice — to better understand the issue of counterfeit air bags and how to prevent them from being purchased and installed in vehicles.

“Organized criminals are selling dangerous counterfeit and substandard airbags to consumers and suppliers with little to no regard to hazardous health and safety consequences,” said ICE Director John Morton. “We will continue to aggressively investigate criminal supply chains with our law enforcement and private industry partners and bring these criminals to justice.”

The NHTSA is currently gathering information from automakers about their systems for verifying the authenticity of replacement parts and is working with the industry to make the driving public aware of the potential safety risk posed by counterfeit air bags. Moving forward, the agency will continue to monitor consumer complaints, police accident reports, and other sources for additional information.

VEHICLES FOR WHICH COUNTERFEIT AIR BAGS MAY BE AVAILABLE: