Colorado Drivers Urged To Check Whether Vehicle Contains Potentially Dangerous Air Bags

DENVER (CBS4/AP)- There are still more than 14 million unrepaired air bags on U.S. roads. That includes hundreds of thousands in Colorado.

Safeairbags.com works with manufacturers to help notify vehicle owners about urgent air bag safety recalls. Heat and humidity can cause faulty Takata airbags to potentially shoot sharp metal fragments at the driver and passengers.

Many drivers have ignored warnings to get their free recall repairs.

Over 30 million air bags in more than 200 models from 20 car and truck makers are being investigated by a U.S. safety agency because they have the potential to explode and hurl shrapnel.

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it opened the probe into air bag inflators made from 2011 through 2019 by now-bankrupt Takata that weren't recalled previously.

The probe could reverse a decision made in May of last year not to recall the inflators, which contain a moisture-absorbing chemical called a dessicant.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)