http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/business/supplier-of-defective-airbags-ordered-to-turn-over-its-records.html 2014-10-30 21:28:14 Supplier of Defective Airbags Ordered to Turn Over Its Records The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also told Takata, whose airbags have been recalled in over 14 million cars, that it must answer questions under oath. === WASHINGTON — Reviving an inquiry that it had once started but then quickly closed, the nation’s auto safety regulator ordered the airbag supplier Takata to turn over documents and answer questions under oath related to defective airbag inflaters. The order, by the Details of litigation against Takata dating to January 2000 were also requested, as were facts related to Takata’s supply chain management and quality control. The order came nearly five years after the agency asked Honda and Takata for more information about rupturing airbags, following a second recall. But that effort ended closed after six months, with the agency satisfied that there was “insufficient information” that the companies had not acted in a timely manner. More than 14 million cars have been recalled globally because of the faulty Takata airbags, including 11 million in the United States. At least three deaths and more than 30 injuries have been attributed to the defect, which can cause airbags to rupture, sending metal shards flying into passengers. Takata was alerted to the problem as early as 2004, when the airbag in a 2002 Honda Accord ruptured in Alabama, but neither Tanaka nor Honda told regulators, “We are compelling Takata to produce documents and answer questions under oath relevant to our ongoing investigation into defective airbags they have produced,” David J. Friedman, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s deputy administrator, said in a statement. The special order, signed by the agency’s chief counsel, gives the airbag supplier until Dec. 1 to respond. So-called special orders are subject to civil penalties of $7,000 a day after that deadline. Refusing to answer the questions, or providing false answers, can result in criminal charges. The safety agency itself has been under pressure since last week, when it issued a rare public warning to consumers to “act immediately” and have their cars fixed. But it became evident that neither Takata nor automakers including Honda and Toyota had enough parts to repair the millions of affected vehicles. Since then, Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have also taken an interest in the Takata defects, as they did after recalls by Toyota and G.M. But in this case, people briefed on the matter said, prosecutors are likely to temporarily defer to federal safety regulators handling the more pressing task of getting the airbags off the road. Ben Protess contributed reporting from New York.