The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration put out a recall notice Monday for defective airbags and urged people whose cars are equipped with them to take action immediately.

More than 4.7 million vehicles are involved in the recall. At least four people have died when inflator mechanisms ruptured on the air bags, spraying the passengers with metal fragments.

NHTSA warned drivers whose cars have been recalled as a result of faulty inflators to take them to the dealer immediately. Safety experts said about 12 million vehicles worldwide have been recalled because of the problem.

The airbags are made by Takata and are in place in some Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan and General Motors models. NHTSA said it was particularly urgent for vehicles owners in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and Hawaii to take immediate action.

The federal safety agency said car owners uncertain about whether their vehicle is equipped with a Takata airbag can check at http://www.safercar.gov/. Using the site requires that owners enter their vehicle identification number (VIN).

NHTSA said the affected vehicles by manufacturer are:

Toyota: 778,177 vehicles potentially affected

2002 – 2004 Lexus SC

2003 – 2004 Toyota Corolla

2003 – 2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix

2002 – 2004 Toyota Sequoia

2003 – 2004 Toyota Tundra

2003 – 2004 Pontiac Vibe

Honda: 2,803,214 vehicles potentially affected

2001 – 2007 Honda Accord (4 cyl)

2001 – 2002 Honda Accord (6 cyl)

2001 – 2005 Honda Civic

2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V

2003 – 2011 Honda Element

2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey

2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot

2006 – Honda Ridgeline

2003 – 2006 Acura MDX

2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL

Nissan: 437,712 vehicles potentially affected

2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima

2001 – 2003 Nissan Pathfinder

2002 – 2003 Nissan Sentra

2001 – 2003 Infiniti I30/I35

2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4

2003 – Infiniti FX

Mazda: 18,050 vehicles potentially affected

2003 – 2004 Mazda6

2004 Mazda RX-8

BMW: 573,935 vehicles potentially affected

2000 – 2005 3 Series Sedan

2000 – 2006 3 Series Coupe

2000 – 2005 3 Series Sports Wagon

2000 – 2006 3 Series Convertible

2001 – 2006 M3 Coupe

2001 – 2006 M3 Convertible

General Motors: 133,221 vehicles potentially affected

2002 – 2003 Buick LeSabre

2002 – 2003 Buick Rendezvous

2002 – 2003 Cadillac DeVille

2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer

2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Impala

2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Venture

2002 – 2003 GMC Envoy

2002 – 2003 GMC Envoy XL

2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Aurora

2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Bravada

2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Silhouette

2002 – 2003 Pontiac Bonneville

2002 – 2003 Pontiac Montana