Tenth Takata-Related Death Reported In Texas

Image courtesy of Samuel M. Livingston

The death last month of a Texas driver has been ruled to be the tenth in the U.S. — eleventh worldwide — related to the massive recall of Takata airbags that can shoot shrapnel at drivers and passengers upon deployment. 

Reuters reports that Honda confirmed that the March 31 death of the driver of a 2002 Honda Civic was the result of a Takata airbag rupture.

The carmaker says the owner had been mailed multiple recall notices, but that repairs had yet to be made.

The Texas death marks the ninth in a Honda vehicle in the U.S.

Ford is the only other carmaker to have a vehicle involved in a Takata-related death. Earlier this year, the Dec. 22 death of a Georgia man driving a Ford Ranger pickup was linked to airbag shrapnel.

“Sadly, this is yet another tragic death caused by a product that Takata knew was defective,” Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who has urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall all vehicles with the airbags, said in a statement on Wednesday. “And it shows that the current recall efforts are just not getting the job done. Takata and the automakers have to step up their efforts to locate, notify and fix every impacted car as soon as possible — before anyone else dies.”

Honda says new Takata airbag death reported in Texas [Reuters]

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