Defective Airbags and Defective Recalls Continue to Endanger All American
October, 2014
Excellent reporting by CBS found:
“More than 11 million cars have been ordered back because of the potentially deadly airbag malfunction. Safety advocates, and those who’ve been affected, say the number should be far higher.
Clarence Ditlow leads the Center for Auto Safety.
“This is one of the deadliest defects that we have ever seen,” says Ditlow. “Yet 10 years later we are just beginning to get to the bottom of it.”
Documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, show Honda, the biggest buyer of Takata airbags, first learned about an exploding airbag in 2004. They recalled about 4,000 cars in 2008. The recalls have now reached 11 million vehicles.
Nine car makers are currently included, but the recalls are mostly regional, covering up to nine states and two U.S. territories.
That’s because Takata believes the explosions are more likely to happen in humid climates, when moisture gets into the system.
“How in the world can you approve a geographic recall that doesn’t include the two states where people have been killed?” says Ditlow”
