Weeks after federal regulators increased the scope of the recall for shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags by up to 40 million safety devices, Toyota has announced just how many of its vehicles are covered by the expansion: 1.58 million. [More]
national highway traffic safety administration
After Nearly 1,000 Complaints, Regulators May Open Investigation Into GM Airbag Issue
By 5.20.16
General Motors isn’t making any new Saturn or Pontiac vehicles, but owners of the many Saturns and Pontiacs still on the road should have some reasonable expectation that their airbags will deploy properly when needed. [More]
Honda Adds 21M Vehicles To Its Takata Airbag Recall List
By 5.16.16
Honda, Takata’s largest customer, says it will recall an additional 21 million vehicles equipped with the parts maker’s shrapnel-shooting airbags after federal regulators recently increased the scope of the safety initiative by up to 40 million airbags. In all, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recalled up to 68 million airbags. Of those, an estimated 51 million are in Honda vehicles. [The New York Times] [More]
Takata Ordered To Recall Up To 40 Million Additional Airbags
By 5.4.16
Hours after reports began swirling that federal regulators were poised to more than double the already massive Takata airbag inflator recall at some point this week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it had amended a previous order and directed the Japanese parts maker to add 35 to 40 million additional airbags to the recall list that already includes 28 million shrapnel-shooting airbags. [More]
Deadly Airbag Recall Expected To Grow By Up To 35 Million This Week
By 5.4.16
Takata’s massive airbag inflator recall could more than double this week, as U.S. safety regulators are reportedly poised to announced the addition of 35 million safety devices to the recall list that already includes 28 million shrapnel-shooting airbags. [More]
Nissan Recalls 3.7M Vehicles Over Airbag issues
By 5.2.16
Two years after recalling 1 million vehicles because of faulty airbags, and a year after federal regulators questioned whether that fix had worked, Nissan is giving the whole airbag recall thing another shot: recalling 3.7 million vehicles that contain airbags that might not deploy properly in the event of a crash. [More]
Investigation Into Honda’s Inaccurate Death And Injury Reports Closed
By 4.25.16
Eighteen months and $70 million later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has closed a probe into Honda’s failure to report over 1700 injuries and deaths over a period of 11 years without further penalties against the carmaker. [More]
NHTSA Shames Distracted Drivers With #JustDrive Twitter Hashtag
By 4.25.16
Distracted drivers aren’t just making phone calls or taking their eyes off the road to text. Many of them are going on Twitter while they should be concentrating on driving. Which is why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is trying to shame them into putting their phones down. [More]
U.S. Investigating Mitsubishi Over Falsified Fuel Mileage Data
By 4.22.16
Two days after Mitsubishi revealed that employees manipulated mileage test data for 620,000 vehicles sold in Japan since 2013, U.S. regulators have opened their own investigation into the carmaker to find out if the same shenanigans occurred stateside. [More]
More Than 1M Chevy, GMC Trucks Recalled Over Seatbelt Defect
By 4.15.16
Properly secured seatbelts can prevent someone from being thrown around a vehicle in the event of a crash, potentially saving their lives. That may not be the case for nearly a million General Motors pickup trucks, which contain seatbelts that may not actually hold the driver in a crash. [More]
84 Million Airbags Could Be Added To Recall If Takata Can’t Prove Inflators Are Safe
By 4.15.16
More than 28 million Takata airbags have already been recalled after they were found to deploy with such force that pieces of shrapnel shoot at drivers and passengers. Regulators now say that figure could increase by 84 million airbags if the Japanese auto parts maker can’t prove other inflators are safe. [More]
Honda Recalls 11K Sedans Because They Contain The Wrong Airbag
By 4.11.16
Over the past several years, Honda has recalled nearly eight million vehicles equipped with Takata airbags that can shoot shrapnel at drivers and passengers upon deployment. While replacing those safety devices, the carmaker discovered that some vehicles were fitted with the incorrect front passenger airbags. [More]
Hyundai Recalls 173K Sedans Because Power Steering Shouldn’t Just Stop Working
By 4.8.16
Power steering helps drivers maneuver their vehicles by taking away some of the steering effort. When the system unexpectedly fails it can take drivers by surprise and increase the risk of a crash. For that reason Hyundai is recalling thousands of sedans. [More]
BMW Gets Extension To Come Up With Takata Replacement Parts
By 3.25.16
Automakers of cars equipped with defective Takata airbags have just a week to stockpile enough replacement parts to fix the vehicles deemed to be the most at risk for a rupture. That is, all of the carmakers beside BMW, which now has five additional months, after tests of its chosen replacement parts failed safety tests. [More]
Toyota Promises Automatic Braking Will Be Standard In Most Models By 2017
By 3.22.16
Just days after automakers and federal regulators reached a deal that would make forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking standard in vehicles by 2022, Toyota says it’ll do one better — make these safety features standard years ahead of schedule.
[More]
Nissan Expands Rogue SUV Recall Over Fuel Pump Issues
By 3.21.16
Nearly a year after Nissan recalled 76,000 Rogue SUVs because the fuel pump could fail, leading the vehicle to stall, the carmaker is expanding the safety initiative to include almost 47,000 additional cars. [More]
FBI To Carmakers, Owners: Your Vehicles Are “Increasingly Vulnerable” To Hackings
By 3.18.16
Nearly a year after the very public hacking of a Jeep that eventually led to the recall of more than 1.4 million Fiat Chrysler vehicles, federal law enforcement and vehicles safety officials are warning carmakers and owners that their vehicles are “increasingly vulnerable” to hackings. [More]
Maserati Recalls 28,000 Cars Because Floor Mats Shouldn’t Drive Your Vehicle
By 3.15.16
If you’re one of the few lucky (we suppose) people who own a vehicle by Italian luxury carmaker Maserati, listen up: the company is recalling more than 28,000 Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans that can simply run away from drivers. [More]
