NHTSA Launches Investigation Against Honda and Takata for Airbag Recalls
A couple of weeks ago the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) urged vehicle owners to act immediately on a recall notice to replace defective Takata airbags. This week NHTSA has launched an investigation questioning whether Takata and automakers acted quickly enough once the defects were suspected. According to the Associated Press NHTSA has demanded Honda to show what and when it knew about deaths and injuries caused by exploding air bags made by Takata by Nov. 24.
Although the recall affects various vehicle makes sold by 10 automakers, Honda sold more than 5 million vehicles with the Takata airbags installed in them. NHTSA has also given Takata a deadline of Dec. 1 that requires them to answer specific questions, including how many replacement air bags have been made and how quickly they can produce enough airbags to fix the problem. So far the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recalled 7.8 million vehicles equipped with Takata airbags.
The air bags are being recalled due to deploying with excessive force in climates with high-humidity. The air bags can also spray metal fragments into drivers and passengers. At least four deaths have been reported that are connected to the airbags. Vehicle owners that are uncertain whether their vehicle is impacted by the Takata recalls, or any other recall, can contact their manufacturer’s website to search, by their vehicle identification number (VIN) to confirm whether their vehicle has an open recall.