American authorities are investigating reports that air bags in the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable sedans have failed to inflate during crashes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is examining 260 complaints filed at Ford. The complaints say the frontal air bags failed to deploy on 2000 and 2001 model year Taurus and Sable sedans.

Ford reported no injuries or deaths from those complaints.

The NHTSA has one fatal crash registered — the air bags failed to deploy when the driver lost control and hit a bridge rail. The driver died and one passenger was injured.

Ford has refused to comment on the matter.

The NHTSA says it is upgrading its investigation after conducting some research and requesting data from Ford.

"This is just a closer look," says Liz Neblett of the NHTSA.

There are 895,936 2000 and 2001 Taurus and Sable sedans on the road.