Takata has been recalling thousands of vehicles since they have announced and admitted that some of their installed airbags were defective. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is a part of the United States Department of Transportation have released a new list of affected car manufacturers. Added to the new list are luxury car brands Tesla, McLaren, and Ferrari.
Takata Admits That The Faulty Airbags Have Been In Cars For More Than A Decade Now
In April 2013, Takata admitted to their fault and stated that only six makes were involved with their faulty airbags. However, the list of affected makes and models are growing rapidly as time goes by, businessmen, politicians, and consumers are anxious as the recalls being made are not fast enough. United States senator Bill Nelson of Florida is complaining about how slow the pace is with the recalls as the current schedule is set to 2020 for the replacement of all faulty airbags. 184 have already been reportedly injured in the United States alone, and 16 fatalities have been recorded throughout the world. Among the deaths, five happened in Malaysia and nine in the United States.
Mishandled Takata Airbags Have Already Caused Fatalities Worldwide
The involved Takata airbags have ruptured, even with just minor collisions, sending shrapnels of metal flying inside the car and injuring the driver or the passengers. Takata stated that the propellant chemicals were not handled properly during assembly. The airbags were also not stored properly causing the metal inflators to burst open due to excessive pressure. The nine fatalities that happened in the United States involved airbags that were installed on 2001 to 2003 car models from Honda Motors and Acura. The Department of Transportation is urging the car owners to stop using and driving their vehicles urgently until the airbags either get replaced or repaired.
Tesla, Ferrari, McLaren And Major Car Brands Are Affected
Tesla, which is quite new in the car industry, have vehicles installed with defective airbags as well. So does luxury supercar manufacturers Ferrari and McLaren, which were recently added to the list. The list gives a total of 19 brands that include major car companies like Toyota, Volkswagen, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda and Nissan. Currently, only12.5 million passenger and driver-side airbags have been recalled, out of the estimated 100 million to defective Takata airbags that need to be recalled.
Other Car Brands With Faulty Takata Airbags
The other car brands on the list are: Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Daimler Vans, Dodge/Ram, Fisker, GMC, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Scion and Subaru. The brands on the list have either been affected, already had incidents of the faulty Takata airbags, or might be affected in the future. If your vehicle belongs to any of the brand names on the list, it is best to look up your Vehicle Identification Number or VIN and have it checked for a possible airbag failure. Vehicle owners need to be vigilant in ensuring their own safety and the other road users as well.
