WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration expects to be ready to take action within two weeks to reduce the safety risks associated with gas tank fires in older Fiat Chrysler Jeep sport utility vehicles and exploding Takata Corp <7312.T> airbags, the agency's top official said on Tuesday.
NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind told reporters that he expects agency staff to present a plan of options in each case early next month and vowed to be as aggressive as possible to minimize dangers posed by the deadly defects.
"We're going to look at every option, and we'll be as aggressive as possible," he told reporters on the sidelines of a NHTSA conference to examine ways to increase the effectiveness of automotive recalls.
Rosekind, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, spoke most forcefully about Fiat Chrysler.
Regulators have considered reopening an investigation into whether Fiat Chrysler needs to take more action to reduce the risk of gas tank fires and has examined the most recent data on how fast the automaker is adding hitches to the Jeeps to help protect the fuel tank from low-speed rear-end collisions.
"To be explicit, the situation has gotten worse ... the numbers came out, they're horribly low," he said. "Those translate into lives at risk, and more lives have been lost and people hurt. That's unacceptable."
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Susan Heavey)
