Earlier this week Japanese auto part maker Takata announced it may have to call back some of the millions of airbags already replaced because they may still have a tendency to shoot shrapnel upon deployment. Today, the company released an estimated number of re-recalled airbags, to the tune of 400,000. [More]
airbags
Ford Adds 500,000 More Vehicles To Its Takata Airbag Recall Lineup
By 6.2.15
During the past week, automakers have scrambled to identify which of their models should be included in the recall of nearly 34 million vehicles equipped with Takata-produced airbags that can shoot pieces of shrapnel upon deployment. For Ford Motor Company the answer involves nearly 500,000 additional sports cars. [More]
Takata Plans To Stop Using Ammonium Nitrate, Phase Out Certain Airbag Inflators
By 6.1.15
A day before representatives from Japanese auto parts maker Takata are set to appear in front of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee to discuss the more than 34 million defective airbags linked to six deaths and more than a hundred injuries, the company announced it would stop using an often volatile chemical in its safety devices moving forward and call back some airbags replaced during earlier recalls. [More]
Could Takata’s Replacement Airbags Be Just As Dangerous?
By 5.27.15
Generally when consumers take their vehicles to a dealer for a recall remedy, they leave with the peace of mind that the potential safety issue has been fixed. That may not end up being the case for more than 34 million recently recalled vehicles equipped with Takata airbags, as the parts manufacturer, automakers and federal regulators struggle to determine why the safety devices have the tendency to spew pieces of shrapnel upon deployment. [More]
NHTSA Once Again Flexes Regulatory Muscle Over GM, Manufacturers Who Used Takata
By 5.22.15
Since taking the helm of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in January, Mark Rosekind has made his intention to hold automakers responsible for safety issues well known. This week, the agency continued tightening the reins by extending oversight requirements imposed on General Motors stemming from its ignition switch defect and invoking its legal authority to speed up the recall process related to millions of vehicles recalled for Takata airbag defects. [More]
Takata Beefing Up Replacement Airbag Production, Again
By 5.20.15
Just as federal regulators caution that it could take years before the nearly 34 million recalled vehicles equipped with Takata airbags that can spew shrapnel upon deployment are replaced, the Japanese auto parts maker says it expects to speed up its output of replacement parts by year’s end. [More]
NHTSA Says It Could Take Days Or Weeks Before All Takata Recalled Vehicles Are Identified
By 5.20.15
Japanese auto parts maker Takata finally buckled under pressure from federal regulators Tuesday, declaring that nearly 33.8 million vehicles sold in the United State come equipped with airbags that can spew pieces of shrapnel upon deployment. While about 17 million of those vehicles had already been part of recalls by major automakers, millions of others have yet to be identified, leaving consumers wondering if they’re driving around with what some people have likened to an explosive device in their steering wheel. [More]
34 Million Takata Airbags Declared Defective, More Recalls To Come
By 5.19.15
After months of resisting federal regulators’ push for a national recall of vehicles containing defective Takata-produced airbags that could spew shrapnel when deployed, the Japanese auto parts maker announced today that it has declared an estimated 34 million vehicles defective because of the potentially deadly safety devices. The declaration is the first step in what will likely be the county’s largest recall of a consumer product. [More]
Toyota, Nissan Add 6.5 Million Vehicles To Takata Airbag Recall; Honda Expected To Follow Suit
By 5.13.15
Just when you think carmakers have recalled the last of the vehicles equipped with Takata airbags that could spew shrapnel when deployed, more cars are added to that list. Today, Toyota and Nissan expanded their already massive recalls to include an additional 6.5 million vehicles, while Honda has plans to do the same. [More]
Driving Around With A Recalled Takata Airbag Is Scary For Consumers
By 5.1.15
Earlier this week, we shared the news that federal regulators are not thrilled with the speed at which cars with potentially dangerous Takata airbags are getting the repairs that they need. What’s that like from the other point of view: specifically, from behind the wheel of a recalled car that has an airbag that may harm you instead of protecting you? [More]
Regulators Gearing Up To Take Action On Slow-Moving Takata, Jeep Recall Fixes
By 4.29.15
After months of expressing concern over the slow-moving pace automobile and parts manufacturers have taken to remedy defects associated with nearly 1.5 million Jeeps that can explode following low-speed rear-end collisions and more than 25 million vehicles equipped with defective, shrapnel-shooting airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is poised to take aggressive action to better ensure the safety of owners of those vehicles. [More]
Takata Airbag Defect Now Linked To 105 Injuries, Six Deaths
By 4.27.15
The number of injuries and deaths associated with Takata-produced airbags that have been found to spew pieces of shrapnel at passengers and drivers upon deployment increased once again, now totaling 105 injuries and six deaths, according to data received from the parts manufacturer. [More]
BMW Recalls 91,000 Mini Coopers For Passenger Airbag Issues
By 4.20.15
Airbags only help to protect a person from injury in the event of a crash if they actually deploy. That seems to be a problem for more than 91,000 Mini Coopers being recalled because the vehicle’s detection system might not realize a passenger is present. [More]
Nissan Expands Recall Of Vehicles With Takata Airbags, Includes Some Sentra Models
By 4.17.15
After several months without additional recalls of vehicles with potentially defective Takata-produced airbags, Nissan has opened the gates again, adding some 45,000 sedans to the list of cars equipped with airbags found to spew pieces of shrapnel at passengers and drivers upon deployment. [More]
NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Subaru Impreza Airbag System
By 4.14.15
Airbags are meant protect a driver or passenger in the event of a collision, but the only way for those safety devices to actually cushion a person from the impact of a crash is if the device activates. Apparently that hasn’t been happening in some Subaru sedans, leading the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to initiate a probe into the problem. [More]
NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Nissan Airbag Sensor Recalls
By 3.23.15
Recalls are more or less a pain for everyone involved. As the owner, you’re inconvenienced because your car should be safe and when a recall occurs you have to take it to a dealer for repairs. Once those repairs – which can take months to occur depending on the availability of parts – are finished, drivers have a reasonable expectation that their car is fixed. But that apparently wasn’t the case for nearly a million Nissan and Infiniti vehicles now under investigation by federal regulators. [More]
Honda Expands Takata Airbag Recall… Again
By 3.19.15
While five major car manufactures have recalled millions of vehicles with Takata-produced airbags in the last year, Honda has by far been the most affected. And today, the car company continued to distance itself from other automakers by recalling more than 100,000 additional vehicles that may contain the airbags known to spew pieces of shrapnel at drivers and passengers upon deployment. [More]
NHTSA Chief Says Takata More “Forthcoming” With Investigation, Senators Send Letter Urging Cooperation
By 3.13.15
A week after Japanese auto parts maker Takata said it would double its production of replacement airbags and three weeks after U.S. federal regulators began imposing a $14,000 per day fine against the company, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the company is being more forthcoming with information related to an investigation into millions of defective airbags. [More]
