Takata Airbags Claims Another Victim
It’s bad times for Takata Corp as the death of a Sydney man this month is linked to the 18th death potentially caused by Takata’s faulty airbags. The incident comes as the first of this sort in Australia.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is launching an investigation into both the government department responsible for vehicle safety and also car manufacturers on what information is being released to consumers regarding the recall.
The man in question drove a Honda CR-V that was fitted with Takata airbags and was killed when he was struck in the neck by shrapnel upon airbag deployment. Takata airbags are known to degrade over time and can spray metal shards throughout the vehicle when the airbag is deployed.
The likely 18th victim of #Takata #airbags is an Australian man who died from shrapnel in his neck: https://t.co/IxXb8QTRpc pic.twitter.com/wqLx9Gh5BQ
— Autoblog (@therealautoblog) July 24, 2017
The investigation will look into why only 36% of affected vehicles have had their airbags replaced, and will urge manufacturers to accelerate the speeds of the replacements.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims says:
“The fact is, now manufacturers have had long enough to locate the airbags and get that sorted.”
More than 2.3 million vehicles in Australia alone have been targeted in the recall since 2009, and includes manufacturers such as Toyota, BMW, Mazda, and Subaru.
In the United States and Japan, Takata Corp has filed for bankruptcy protection. Last month it was announced that Takata will be acquired by Chinese owned Key Safety Systems for $1.6 billion.
