On Tuesday, Honda announced that it was recalling an additional 772,000 Honda & Acura vehicles in the U.S. for potentially defective and deadly air bag inflators made by the Japanese supplier, Takata Corp. (ABC news report.) More than 100 million vehicles with these airbags involving 17 automakers have been recalled worldwide, including 69 million in the U.S. alone.
As previously reported in this blog, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that test data on a particular subset of defective Takata air bag inflators in certain Honda and Acura vehicles show a far higher risk of ruptures during air bag deployment. This finding prompted an urgent call from the NHTSA to ensure that unrepaired vehicles in this population are found and fixed before they cause further injuries or fatalities. According to the NHTSA hundreds of thousands of vehicles with the dangerous defect remain unrepaired.
“With as high as a 50 percent chance of a dangerous air bag inflator rupture in a crash, these vehicles are unsafe and need to be repaired immediately,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “Folks should not drive these vehicles unless they are going straight to a dealer to have them repaired immediately, free of charge.”
Among the models recalled are the 2005-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2012 Acura RL, 2008-2012 Honda Accord, 2006-2011 Honda Civic, 2007-2012 Honda Fit and 2010-2012 Honda Insight.
The recall also covers the 2009-2012 Acura TSX, 2011-2012 Acura TSX Wagon, 2010-2012 Acura ZDX, 2010-2012 Honda Crosstour, 2005-2011 Honda CR-V, 2005-2011 Honda Element, 2012 Honda FCX Clarity, 2005-2012 Honda Pilot and 2006-2012 Honda Ridgeline.
Drivers can visit SaferCar.gov to check whether their vehicle has any outstanding safety recalls. Those that do should contact their nearest dealer immediately.
For more information about the recall, dangers of Takata air bags, or the Takata air bag litigation, contact Borgess Law, LLC at (567) 455-5955. You can also contact Borgess Law, LLC by submitting an online inquiry.