Auto Safety Agency Chief To Stop In Miami On Air Bag Tour

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – The head of the federal government's auto safety agency, on a tour dealing with defective air bags, is making two stops in Florida this week.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Mark Rosekind made a stop in Orlando Tuesday, and will head to Miami Wednesday, to encourage drivers to check if their vehicles are affected by recalls of Takata air bag inflators.

Takata has recalled more than 32 million air bag inflators in the United States.

Rosekind said Tuesday that Florida drivers are particularly at risk from the defective air bags.

At least eight people have been killed and 100 have been injured by Takata air bags, which can explode with too much force and spew shrapnel into the vehicle. One of the deaths was in Orlando.

The problem has persisted for more than a decade and impacts 11 automakers, including Honda, BMW and Toyota.

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