The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that Japanese auto parts manufacturing company Takata must preserve all air bag inflators that were removed during a recall process, to be kept as evidence for a US federal investigation and private litigation.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Japanese auto parts manufacturing company Takata must preserve all air bag inflators that were removed during a recall process, to be kept as evidence for a US federal investigation and private litigation, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced in a statement.

“US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued an order requiring Takata to preserve all air bag inflators removed through the recall process as evidence for both NHTSA’s investigation and private litigation cases,” the NHTSA statement, issued on Wednesday, said.

Since 2008, numerous automakers have recalled nearly 17 million vehicles with Takata airbags that they say can potentially rupture and cause injuries and even deaths when deployed, according to the NHTSA statement.

Foxx explained that NHTSA upgraded the Takata investigation to an “engineering analysis,” and hired an outside air bag propellant expert, which is a major step forward in determining the cause of the air bag failures.

Moreover, Foxx said that upgrading the investigation would help the NHTSA understand whether Takata’s refusal to inform the agency about the safety defect violates US federal safety regulations or laws.

“This department is focused on protecting the American public from these defective air bags and at getting to the bottom of how they came to be included in millions of vehicles on U.S. roads,” Foxx said. “This preservation order will help us get the answers we need to accomplish those goals.”

The Friday NHTSA provisions include directing Takata to put aside 10 percent of the recalled inflators for the private testing. Meanwhile, the Japanese auto parts making company will be forced to pay $14,000 a day in civil penalties for failing to respond to requests for information.