More than 300,000 Hondas and Acuras feature exploding Takata airbags, federal safety regulators said last week. Those cars should not be driven until their airbags are replaced.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said their latest tests show these airbags have a 50% chance of exploding in an accident, compared with just a 1% chance for other bags.
Honda, Acura – Grave Risks
The agency said: “The risk posed by the airbag inflators in these vehicles is grave, and it is critical they be repaired now to avoid more deaths and serious injuries.”
Since 2014, nearly 70 million airbags in U.S. cars have been recalled or will be as part of Takata’s huge safety scandal.
Toyota had earlier recalled some 1.4 million cars for Exploding Takata Airbags.
Texas, Florida, Gulf Coast face Greater Risks
NHTSA said cars in humid U.S. regions such as Florida, Texas, Louisiana and rest of the Gulf Coast face greater risk of airbag explosions.
Takata airbags have been tied to ten (10) deaths in the U.S. so far, eight in autos that had the same Takata airbag specified in the June 30, 2016 warning.
CNN Money noted that this car group is part of a smaller subset with Takata airbags already recalled. Some vehicles contain two Takata airbags needing replacement. Estimates say at least 20% of the 260 million cars on American roads have or had a defective Takata airbag.
Exploding Airbags across the U.S.
Takata airbags have been placed in the cars of at least 13 different automakers, including all the major players. Both Honda and its luxury Acura have had the lion’s share of cars affected by the Takata airbag recall.
Because not all the replacement parts are immediately available, experts say it will take until 2019 to replace all the defective airbags,
The NHTSA said Honda (HMC) has the replacement parts to fix all the 300,000 high-risk cars covered by this alert.
Honda Airbag Warning
Models identified by NHTSA with the defective Takata airbags include:
• 2001-2002 Honda Civic
• 2001-2002 Honda Accord
• 2002-2003 Acura TL
• 2002 Honda CR-V
• 2002 Honda Odyssey
• 2003 Acura CL
• 2003 Honda Pilot
Other Airbag Recalls
Some 700,000 cars with the dangerous airbags have already been repaired. Recalls for those vehicles occurred from 2008 – 2011.
Recalled cars typically take several years to be repaired. According to car industry figures, roughly 1/3 of all recalled vehicles are never repaired, even in the case of high profile recalls involving several deaths.
NHTSA said 8.9 million Takata airbags were replaced in the last year, a figure that represents only about 1/3 of the cars for which their owners were notified a replacement part is available for them.
Related
- Takata recalls Exploding Airbags
- GM Recall Lawsuit
- Houston Truck Accident Lawyer
- CNN: Stop Driving these Hondas Now
by Matthews & Associates
