Airbag Recall

An air bag is supposed to protect drivers and passengers involved in a collision. However, the mechanism that controls the bag has been known to fail, causing at least four deaths and more than 100 injuries, according to Automotive News. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a recall Monday, Oct. 20 for cars with faulty airbags.

According to the NHTSA website, about 7.8 million cars are involved in the recall in the United States. Affected brands include Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan and Subaru, among others. The NHTSA urged these vehicle owners to visit their manufacturer’s website and search using their vehicle identification number (VIN) to confirm if the car is impacted by the recall.

The manufacturer of the defective airbags is Takata Corporation, a Tokyo-based supplier that manufactures seat belts, air bags and steering wheels, among other car parts, according to Fox News.

“The chemicals in the inflators were mishandled during manufacturer and can degrade, especially in humid conditions,” a USA Today article stated. “When that happens, the bags can inflate too forcefully, tearing loose from their mountings and blowing small pieces — shrapnel, in effect — into the faces and chests of occupants.”

According to USA Today, this is not the first time Takata Corporation airbags have been recalled.

The most recent case that sparked the NHTSA to take action happened Sept. 29 near Orlando, Florida. In the accident, Hien Thi Tran, a 46-year-old woman, turned left and collided with another car head-on. Tran suffered severe neck wounds and lost her life in the accident.

“The original report on the death said the seat belt could not have cut the right side of her neck,” a Fox News article stated. “Also, there was no broken glass and no other apparent cause of the neck wounds.”

Though the problem seems to be mostly in humid areas, there have been some cases where the problem has occurred in areas with low humidity. One case was in 2009 when 18-year-old Ashley Parham was driving her 2001 Honda Accord in a high school parking lot in Midwest City, Oklahoma. According to the Fox News article, “The airbag inflated and sent shards of metal into her neck, causing ok her death.”

NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman said in a statement last week that car owners whose vehicles are on the recall list should get their cars checked immediately.

“Responding to these recalls, whether old or new, is essential to personal safety, and it will help aid our ongoing investigation into Takata airbags and what appears to be a problem related to extended exposure to consistently high humidity and temperatures,” Friedman said. “We’re leaving no stone unturned in our aggressive pursuit to track down the full geographic scope of this issue.”

Federal prosecutors are currently investigating Takata Corporation, and lawmakers are looking into NHTSA’s investigation of the Takata Corporation, according to The Wall Street Journal.

To find out which cars have been recalled using the vehicle’s VIN number, visit vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin.

Brown is a copy editor.