Man Driving A Honda City With Faulty Takata Airbag Inflator Killed In Crash
The model was included in a Malaysian product recall for its airbag to be replaced.
By Sadho Ram — 31 Jan 2018, 07:02 PM
On Tuesday, Honda Malaysia confirmed that there was an accident involving a 2014 Honda City in Selangor. In the crash, the Takata single stage (SDI) airbag inflator on the driver side ruptured.
The incident resulted in the tragic death of the driver. However, so far no official cause of death has been determined. In the meantime, Honda Malaysia said that they are co-ordinating with the authorities and representative of the driver's family.
According to Honda Malaysia, the airbag inflator on the passenger side, however, did not rupture while it was deployed and functioned in a proper manner in the crash.
The 2004 Honda City model was included in a mandatory recall announced on 21 May 2015, requiring its airbag to be replaced
However, its faulty Takata airbag was never replaced by its previous owner.
"Several notification letters related to the recall were sent out to the then owners of the vehicle based on the information in our database, yet the letters were not sent to the current owner due to the change of ownership.
"Our records indicate that the recall replacement was never completed," Honda Malaysia said in a statement on 30 January.
The Japanese automaker stressed that while it has tried to reach out to all affected owners as part of its mandatory recall, as of 25 January, 16% of the 2,21,000 vehicles requiring replacement of driver-side airbags have yet to come in for the necessary checks
Meanwhile, Honda Malaysia has assured that the current lineup of Honda cars is not affected as they do not have the same type of Takata airbag inflators.
Back in 2017, Takata pleaded guilty to fraud in a U.S. court and agreed to pay more than USD1 billion in penalties for concealing the defect.
The faulty Takata airbag inflators have killed 22 people so far and have resulted in more than 180 injuries worldwide.
