A high-ranking official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was defending federal safety regulators' decision not to mandate a national recall of all cars affected by defective airbags manufactured by Japan’s Takata. According to The Detroit News, Deputy NHTSA Administrator David Friedman was preparing to tell a U.S. Senate committee that the agency doesn't have sufficient data to force a nationwide recall, and that such a broad action could divert limited replacement parts from targeted high-humidity regions of the country where affected cars are already known to be high-risk. Friedman's written testimony mirrored language used by Takata early this week in opposing a national recall.

Related: What Cars Are Included in the Takata Airbag Recall?

This follows news Wednesday that NHTSA was urging the 10 automakers affected by the potentially deadly airbag issue to recall all involved cars across the U.S. Due to defective airbag inflators, front passenger airbags could rupture upon deployment and spray vehicle occupants with shrapnel; the problem already has resulted in 7.8 million recalls.

Story from The Detroit News.