Exploding Takata airbags: many millions involved in recalls

There have been multiple calls to get Takata inflators out of vehicles and off the roads for several years, and after a crash where a Takata airbag reportedly nearly caused a woman’s death, these calls are getting louder.

Karina Dorado’s trachea was reportedly punctured by shrapnel from a Takata inflator. The crash, which happened on 3^rd March 2017 in Las Vegas, should’ve been just a minor collision, but things escalated quickly. Ms Dorado was rushed into a trauma centre where surgeons removed pieces of the airbag device that had damaged her vocal cords.

She is still being treated for neck injuries.

Reused parts

What is possibly different in this case is how the inflator was put in her vehicle to start with. The vehicle was bought for her as a gift in March 2016, but they were unaware of the vehicle’s hidden history. The vehicle had in fact been in a wreck before and was declared a total loss by an insurance company in 2015. The seller of the 2002 Honda Accord reportedly should’ve made the buyer aware of this, but failed to do so.

According to AutoCheck, a service that tracks vehicle histories, the vehicle was given a salvage title, whereby the vehicle had been deemed a total loss by an insurance company that paid out for a claim on it. However, rather than being scrapped, the vehicle was repaired and resold in Las Vegas.

After the crash, engineers from Honda had a look at the vehicle and found that the inflator had never been replaced. Michael Brooks, acting director of Auto Safety, notes “what there should be is a program that prevents old air bags from being recycled.”

Not an isolated incident

Ms Dorado’s injury isn’t an isolated one; she’s one of around 200 people who have reportedly been injured or killed by Takata inflators. The inflators have been deemed as dangerous as they can explode and fire fragments in the vehicle cockpit when the chemical propellant inside deteriorates or is engaged.

Takata has so far recalled around 100 million of these devices worldwide. This is thought to be one of the biggest automotive recall cases in history, and with Takata facing monumental fines and penalties, the recall may bankrupt them. In fact, it’s thought that the Japanese company will be filing for bankruptcy very soon, if they’ve not done so already.

Bankruptcy may disrupt the production or replacement airbag inflators involved in the recall. Additionally, with reports showing that the devices are being taken from wrecked vehicles and reused in others, or not replaced in wrecked vehicles, unsuspecting buyers are being put at risk, and problems may go on for a long time.