Nearly one year ago, regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a national recall for faulty Takata airbags. Impacting roughly 23.4 million vehicles in the U.S., this recall has been slow to remedy the issue that creates a risk of these airbags rupturing and, in doing so, possibly shooting small pieces of metal at vehicle occupants’ heads and chests in a car accident.
While regulators and Takata officials will reportedly be convening this fall to evaluate how to improve the recall efforts, below, we have presented some of the most important facts that you should know about this recall right now.
Here’s What You Should Know about the Takata Airbag Recall
1 – Less than 1 in 5 faulty Takata airbags in the U.S. have been fixed so far.
More than 10 months after the NHTSA first announced the national Takata airbag recall in the U.S., only about 4.4 million of the faulty airbags have been fixed. This represents just over 17 percent of the total number of faulty airbags in U.S. vehicles.
In other words, the vast majority of faulty Takata airbags remain in vehicles, continuing to put the public at risk.
2 – Although the precise causes of the airbag ruptures are not known, humidity is a known risk factor.
Interestingly, regulators and researchers are still not exactly sure just what exactly causes some airbags to rupture and others not to. While investigations into the causes are still ongoing, it is currently known that faulty airbags are far more likely to rupture in humid regions. This has led to regulators pushing for fixes in the southern regions of the U.S. to be prioritized.
3 – Takata has received 88 reports to date regarding airbag ruptures.
According to Takata, as of June 2015, it had received 67 reports regarding driver-side airbag ruptures and 21 reports regarding passenger-side airbag ruptures. In 8 of these cases, the injuries sustained ended up being fatal.
Regulators believe, however, that the real numbers regarding airbag ruptures, injuries and deaths are far greater and that additional reports may be filed by motorists in the near future.
4 – Motorists can check if their vehicles are affected by this recall.
This may be one of the more important takeaways from these facts, as drivers should check if their vehicles have been impacted by this recall so they can avoid putting themselves at an unnecessary risk in the event their faulty airbag ruptures.
To check if your vehicle has been subject to this recall, click here.
If you do find or know that your vehicle is affected by this recall, you are urged to not drive your vehicle until the driver-side airbag has been fixed. If the passenger-side airbag is affected, then do not let anyone ride in the passenger seat until the remedy has been made.
Contact a Kingston Personal Injury Lawyer at Charles N. Rock, P.L.L.C.
Have you or someone you love been injured by a dangerous or faulty piece of vehicle equipment? If so, you can turn to Kingston Personal Injury Lawyer Charles N. Rock for aggressive legal advocacy and effective help obtaining the compensation and justice you likely deserve.
To find out more about your best options for moving forward, contact us today to schedule a free, no obligations initial consultation. You can set up this meeting by calling (845) 383–1170 or by emailing us using the contact form on this page. To ensure that you have the legal support you need now, Injury Attorney Charles N. Rock can meet you at your home or a hospital when needed.