From staff, wire service reports
The federal government is investigating reports that air bags in Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable sedans failed to inflate during crashes, according to recently released documents.
At the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford Motor Co. reported 260 complaints of frontal air bags failing to deploy on 2000 and 2001 model year Taurus and Sable sedans.
Ford reported no injuries or deaths from those complaints. But NHTSA's database revealed one fatal crash in which frontal air bags failed to deploy after the driver of a Ford Taurus lost control and hit a concrete bridge rail. The driver died, and a passenger was injured.
There are 895,936 2000-2001 Taurus and Sable sedans on the road, NHTSA said.
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More information on equipment levels and pricing are available at http://www.hotrodsandhorsepower.com
