Recalled Takata Airbags Are Nonetheless Killing Folks

It’s been practically a decade since widespread recollects of Takata airbags started. Tens of hundreds of thousands of vehicles have had their faulty, probably lethal inflators changed, however some are nonetheless on the streets, their homeowners lacking years and years’ value of notices. On Thursday, the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration confirmed authorities’ suspicions that a loss of life that occurred in June involving a 2006 Ford Ranger was, in reality, brought on by a foul Takata airbag.

Ford claims it despatched the proprietor greater than 100 alerts by way of the mail, in addition to textual content messages, and even had a consultant go to their dwelling to arrange an appointment in particular person, per Reuters. The corporate additionally says it warned homeowners of all affected Rangers to not drive their vans.

Up to now, at the least 23 individuals have been killed and 400 injured within the U.S. by faulty Takata inflators, which employed an unstable chemical that might create violent explosions within the occasion of an accident, sending shrapnel into the cabin.

Regrettably, tales like this one out of Florida of drivers both unaware or knowingly flouting repeated communications about Takata recollects haven’t been unusual. One such driver of a 2002 Honda Accord was killed in a collision in South Carolina in January 2021; Honda stated it despatched out greater than 100 notices. These might have very nicely been missed by the particular person driving the Accord on the time of the crash, as they weren’t even the registered proprietor of the sedan.

Across the time of that South Carolina incident, Ford was pressured to recall one other 3 million vehicles that had theoretically safer Takata airbags. The inflators in these vehicles employed the identical harmful chemical however added a desiccant, to soak up moisture and cease degradation, supposedly guaranteeing they’d work as designed. In the end the NHTSA decided these Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Mazda fashions have been nonetheless in danger similar to the remaining, and added them to the greater than 100 million vehicles globally affected by the recall.

Now’s time to reiterate that the NHTSA has a useful lookup website, the place you’ll be able to enter your automobile’s VIN to see if it has any excellent, unrepaired recollects. All the time be sure you use it once you’re used automobile buying, significantly for something constructed within the aughts when these deadly airbags discovered their means into nearly all the pieces.