A person recently died after the Takata airbag in a 2002 Honda Accord ruptured. That marks four deaths this year related to Takata inflator rupture in airbags and 23 in total. The time for checking on whether or not your vehicle has a recall related to Takata airbags is today.
Takata was subject to the largest safety recall in U.S. history related to a consumer product. More than 33 million cars have been recalled due to faulty and potentially deadly Takata airbags. Comments from NHTSA officials don’t mince words after this most recent fatality.
“Whatever you’re doing, stop now and check to see if your vehicle has a Takata air bag recall. If it does, make an appointment to get your free repair as soon as possible,” said NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson.
More: Ford Sent Over 100 Notices And Even Visited The Home Of Ranger Driver Killed By Takata Airbag
“If this air bag ruptures in a crash, it could kill you or someone you love, or leave them with critical, life-altering injuries. Every day that passes when you don’t get a recalled air bag replaced puts you and your family at greater risk of injury or death,” Carlson continued.
Honda Attempted To Contact Driver Over 300 Times
Honda on its behalf stated that it had tried to contact the owner of the 2002 Accord over 300 times since the recall was initiated in April of 2011. “Starting in June 2011, Honda made more than 300 attempts to reach the owner of this vehicle, who purchased the car in 2008,” Honda said in a statement. “This included more than 40 mailed notices to the registered address, over 230 phone calls, and over 40 email notifications. Our records indicate that the recall repair was never completed.”
Honda has confirmed 17 deaths and over 200 injuries in the USA related to Takata frontal driver’s airbags due to inflator ruptures. There are three other automakers that have confirmed an additional six fatalities in the country raising the total number to 23.
The Japanese carmaker pointed out that it currently has sufficient supplies of replacement inflators to complete the free repairs for all recalled Honda and Acura models in the United States, urging all owners of affected vehicles to “seek repair as soon as possible”.
Ruptured Airbags Can Seriously Injure You Too
It’s worth noting that death clearly isn’t the only possible outcome of a ruptured airbag inflator. In fact, the vast majority of injuries (some 400 in total) associated with these airbags aren’t deadly ones.
That doesn’t mean that they’re not life-altering ones though. At its core, these ruptures aren’t too dissimilar from an explosion taking place in the cabin of your car and there’s no telling when they might occur. It’s no wonder then that they result in accidents even when the driver is largely uninjured.
The NHTSA has a handy website specifically to help owners find out if their vehicle is subject to a recall related to Takata airbags. Those who suspect that their vehicle might be affected can contact either their local dealer or the NHTSA. No other details about the incident involving the 2002 Honda Accord were released.
Just last month, Stellantis urged owners of some 276,000 U.S. cars including a raft of Dodge Challengers, Chargers, Magnums and Chrysler 300s, to immediately stop driving them and replace the faulty Takata airbags.
