GREENSBORO, N.C. — The largest recall of all time is getting bigger. For more than a decade Takata airbags have dominated the headlines, but during coronavirus the important safety recall was drowned out by other concerns. In the shadows even more vehicles were added to the recall list. Here's what you missed...
It's been a long road with Takata airbags
The first recall came in 2008 when Honda wanted to replace possibly defective air bags in 4,000 vehicles. By 2014, there was a congressional hearing.
“For years Takata did not put safety first," former Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said.
And in 2016, federal regulators said the defect in Takata airbags had killed 10 people.
“She was 26 years old when her life was taken from her," said Alexander Bragman. His daughter Jewel was in a fender bender that most people would walk away from without a scratch. But he says her airbag malfunctioned.
“What happened is the sharp metal in the airbag, cut her artery and she lost 9 pints of blood," he said.
Transportation safety experts say some Takata airbags lacked a desiccant. It’s like those packets that absorb moisture that come with new shoes or electronics.
That defect allowed extra moisture to build up and break down the airbag, so when it deployed sometimes metal fragments flew out towards the driver’s face.
The airbag maker eventually agreed to recall more than 67 million airbags making the Takata recall the largest in American history.
Over the next couple of years there were supply chain issues before supply chain issues became a part of our daily vocabulary with coronavirus. It could take months to get an appointment for a replacement. Things got so bad, thieves were stealing new airbags out of cars to sell to repair shops.
A new report from an independent monitor of the recall says during pandemic, repair people caught up with demand. 50 million airbags have been repaired. And 98 percent of high risk vehicles have been fixed.
Then things take a turn as we headed into 2021.
In February, Consumer Reports says Ford issued 154,000 recalls of Ranger pickup trucks, Mustang GT coupes, Edge, Lincoln MKX SUVs, Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln MKZ sedans because they might have accidentally repaired them with old recalled airbags that were supposed to be thrown away, but instead remained on the shelves.
And in May, BMW recalled thousands of 3 series because they had Takata airbags that were inspected, but not replaced under a previous recall.
Consumer Reports says these latest recalls show how seriously car manufactures are taking Takata airbag problems.
“At this point manufactures want to air on the side of caution. Any kind of death or injury is tragic, and we want to do everything we can to mitigate those, but it’s also important to look at the numbers,” said automotive reporter Benjmain Preston.
He says in all the years of issues with Takata, one million airbags have deployed in crashes, causing 400 injuries and 19 deaths.
“Any death is not good, but it’s a really rare thing," Preston said.
So is that the end of the road? Well, in September the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started an investigation in 30 million vehicles not covered in the initial recalls. The goal is to double check that the vehicles are safe. Consumer reports says it’s another example of being extra cautious. We’ll see if the recalls continue to grow.
The company Takata filed bankruptcy and went out of business.
It’s important to check your car for open recalls at least every 6 months. You can do that by checking the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.