Recalls of faulty Takata-sourced airbags that may explode and send deadly pieces of shrapnel flying through cars’ interiors have so far affected more than 14 million vehicles made by 11 automakers, with recent recalls focusing on vehicles sold or registered in high-humidity regions, including Florida.
Yet the full scope of the problem is still being investigated, and there is reason to believe that the Takata air bag recall will expand and surpass the recent GM ignition switch and Toyota unintended acceleration safety crises.
Recalls First Issued in 2008, Now Top 14 Million
According to the New York Times, Honda – which the Times says knew about the danger of exploding air bags as early as 2004 – first issued a safety recall for 4,200 vehicles with Takata air bags in late 2008. Today, 14.2 million vehicles are affected by the Takata recall.
Honda leads the way with more than 6 million recalls, although Mazda, Chrysler, BMW, Toyota, and Nissan also have a significant number of vehicles with potentially dangerous Takata air bags. The Times reports that two deaths and more than 30 injuries are linked to Hondas with Takata air bags, while the air bags have been blamed for a total of 139 injuries.
In response to a “field action” issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in June, a number of automakers agreed to address the problem.
“Today’s action is influenced by a NHTSA investigation into six reports of air bag inflator ruptures, all of which occurred in Florida and Puerto Rico,” NHTSA said in a June 11 statement. “Based on the limited data available at this time, NHTSA supports efforts by automakers to address the immediate risk in areas that have consistently hot, humid conditions over extended periods of time.”
Accidents in Non-Field Action States
The NHTSA field action is a regional recall that pertains to certain vehicles in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. But as Karl Brauer of Edmunds notes, fatal and injurious accidents involving Takata air bags have occurred in areas not named in the field action.
Writing for Forbes, Brauer points to fatalities in Virginia and Oklahoma and injuries in Los Angeles and Alabama, and calls the humidity explanation “spurious at best.”
“Humidity may speed up the [air bag malfunction] process,” Brauer writes, “but does anyone really think an air bag problem in Puerto Rico today will never affect a vehicle in Arizona or West Texas? What if you live in Arizona but spend your summer in Florida?”
Brauer sees similarities between this developing safety crisis and those of GM and Toyota. He told Bloomberg, “It feels like we are at the beginning of this.”
The New York Times similarly concludes, “There seems to be no end in sight to the air bag ruptures.”
Recalls of faulty Takata-sourced airbags that may explode and send deadly pieces of shrapnel flying through cars’ interiors have so far affected more than 14 million vehicles made by 11 automakers, with recent recalls focusing on vehicles sold or registered in high-humidity regions, including Florida.
Yet the full scope of the problem is still being investigated, and there is reason to believe that the Takata air bag recall will expand and surpass the recent GM ignition switch and Toyota unintended acceleration safety crises.
Recalls First Issued in 2008, Now Top 14 Million
According to the New York Times, Honda – which the Times says knew about the danger of exploding air bags as early as 2004 – first issued a safety recall for 4,200 vehicles with Takata air bags in late 2008. Today, 14.2 million vehicles are affected by the Takata recall.
Honda leads the way with more than 6 million recalls, although Mazda, Chrysler, BMW, Toyota, and Nissan also have a significant number of vehicles with potentially dangerous Takata air bags. The Times reports that two deaths and more than 30 injuries are linked to Hondas with Takata air bags, while the air bags have been blamed for a total of 139 injuries.
In response to a “field action” issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in June, a number of automakers agreed to address the problem.
“Today’s action is influenced by a NHTSA investigation into six reports of air bag inflator ruptures, all of which occurred in Florida and Puerto Rico,” NHTSA said in a June 11 statement. “Based on the limited data available at this time, NHTSA supports efforts by automakers to address the immediate risk in areas that have consistently hot, humid conditions over extended periods of time.”
Accidents in Non-Field Action States
The NHTSA field action is a regional recall that pertains to certain vehicles in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. But as Karl Brauer of Edmunds notes, fatal and injurious accidents involving Takata air bags have occurred in areas not named in the field action.
Writing for Forbes, Brauer points to fatalities in Virginia and Oklahoma and injuries in Los Angeles and Alabama, and calls the humidity explanation “spurious at best.”
“Humidity may speed up the [air bag malfunction] process,” Brauer writes, “but does anyone really think an air bag problem in Puerto Rico today will never affect a vehicle in Arizona or West Texas? What if you live in Arizona but spend your summer in Florida?”
Brauer sees similarities between this developing safety crisis and those of GM and Toyota. He told Bloomberg, “It feels like we are at the beginning of this.”
The New York Times similarly concludes, “There seems to be no end in sight to the air bag ruptures.”