Your Airbag Could Be a Hand Grenade

[B. Kidd]

Last night our local news did a spot on how many drivers do not know that their vehicle has a 'Takata' defective airbag. Most did not know! I guess there are as many low information drivers out there as there are voters.

Anyways, here are the models this recall covers and you can also go to NHTSA to run your VIN# to see if it covers you.

Consider this a Public Service Announcement.

Massive Takata Airbag Recall Everything You Need to Know News Car and Driver Car and Driver Blog

 

[Mad Scientist]

Your airbag was designed and mandated by Government to protect you in an accident but since Government has found that it can kill you Government has mandated the installation of a switch so you can turn it off.

 

[B. Kidd]

I switched to KIA last year. I can keep my airbags on.

 

[prison/con.net]

might be interesting to remove one, dip it into glue, roll in BB's, wrap in tape, repeat, then detonate the thing, inside of a circle of plywood sheets, as the military does at Aberdeen, to determine the "50% lethality" range of fragmentation weapons.

 

[pauls]

My three cars don't have airbags or even factory installed shoulder harnesses. I've lived this long without them, I think I am fine.

 

[Jarlaxle]

My Dakota doesn't have a Takata airbag...none of the other 3 vehicles in the driveway have airbags at all. I'm good.

 

[waltky]

Honda says millions more cars with Takata airbags to be recalled...

Honda says recalling millions more cars with Takata airbags
May 13, 2016 - Honda said Friday it would recall millions more cars equipped with airbags made by crisis-hit supplier Takata, in a widening of a scandal that has already led to the biggest auto recall in US history.

The announcement came as Honda, Takata's top airbag client, warned its full-year net profit dropped by a third as it wrestles with mounting costs linked to an airbag defect blamed for at least 13 deaths and scores of injuries. "On top of the 30 million Takata airbags already announced for a recall, we are going to recall an additional 21 million units globally," a Honda spokesman in Tokyo said Friday. Takata is struggling to deal with a defect that can fire metal and plastic shrapnel from the airbag's inflator canister hurtling toward drivers and passengers when its deployed. The Tokyo-based auto parts giant has been hit by lawsuits and regulatory probes over claims it hid flaws in its airbags for years. The scandal has affected about a dozen global automaker clients, also including Toyota and Volkswagen.

Investigators increasingly suspect that the chemical used to inflate Takata airbags can be unstable, especially in hot and humid conditions, and cause the inflator canister to rupture. On Friday, Honda said its net profit in the fiscal year to March was down 32 percent from a year ago to 344.5 billion yen ($3.2 billion), which it blamed mainly on "quality-related costs" linked to the airbag crisis. "We had thought that Honda was turning the corner on the negative impact of the airbag accidents but it appears to be hanging around," said Shigeru Matsumura, analyst at SMBC Friend Research Centre.

Takata this week logged an annual net loss of $120 million as US auto safety regulators order a mounting number of recalls to deal with the problem. Last week, Honda said two people died in Malaysia after Takata-made airbag inflators exploded, raising the global death toll to 13. Most of the fatalities have been in the US, including a Texas teenager who died in March after her 2002 Honda Civic collided with another car, activating a defective Takata airbag. "The science clearly shows that these inflators become unsafe over time, faster when exposed to humidity and variations of temperature," the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last week.

The first airbags covered in new US recalls will be those in hot and humid climates which would have shorter lifespans -- generally the southern part of the country -- along with the oldest airbags in service in any region. The Takata case constitutes the largest ever safety recall in US history, the NHTSA said. Last year the agency slapped Takata with a record $200 million fine for providing inadequate and inaccurate information about the problem airbags to regulators.

Honda says recalling millions more cars with Takata airbags

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - make it in dollars insteada yen...

Takata fined $1bn in US over exploding airbag scandal
Fri, 13 Jan 2017 - Japan's Takata hit with $1bn (£820m) US penalty for selling dangerously defective airbags.

Japanese car parts maker Takata has agreed to pay $1bn (£820m) in penalties in the US for concealing dangerous defects in its exploding airbags. The firm also pleaded guilty to a single criminal charge, the company and the US Justice Department said. Takata will pay a $25m fine, $125m to people injured by the airbags and $850m to carmakers that used them. The faulty airbags have been linked to at least a dozen deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide. Most major carmakers have been affected by the fault, with about 100 million Takata airbags recalled globally.

'Falsified test data'

The company's chief executive, Shigehisa Takada, said: "Takata deeply regrets the circumstances that have led to this situation and remains fully committed to being part of the solution." Takata has previously acknowledged some of its airbag inflators expanded with too much force and sprayed metal shrapnel into cars. "For more than a decade, Takata repeatedly and systematically falsified critical test data related to the safety of its products, putting profits and production schedules ahead of safety," said Andrew Weissmann, head of the Justice Department's fraud section. "I offer my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who died and to those who were injured as a result of the Takata Corporation's failure to fulfil its obligation to ensure the safety of its airbag systems," said Calvin L Scovel, inspector general of the US Department of Transportation.

A crash-test dummy sits in a testing sled at Takata's current crash-testing facility in Michigan​

Three former Takata executives were also charged by the US authorities on Friday for their part in the scandal. The charges for conspiracy and wire fraud were filed against Shinichi Tanaka, Hideo Nakajima and Tsuneo Chikaraishi. All three were long-serving executives at Takata until 2015.

Arrest warrants have also been issued for the three executives, although a spokeswoman for the US Attorney's Office in Detroit said it was unclear where the defendants were. They do not have a date to appear in court. Earlier on Friday Takata shares closed almost 17% higher in Tokyo on reports of the settlement with US regulators. It has not disclosed the total cost of the global recall, but reports have suggested it is working on a restructuring deal and potential bankruptcy protection.

Takata fined $1bn in US over exploding airbag scandal - BBC News

 

[Jarlaxle]

Only vehicle with airbags (Crown Victoria) uses, IIRC, Autoliv parts...I'm still good.

 

[waltky]

Takata airbag files for bankruptcy...

Japanese airbag maker Takata files for bankruptcy, gets Chinese backing
Mon Jun 26, 2017 | Japan's Takata Corp , at the center of the auto industry's biggest-ever product recall, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Japan, and said it had agreed to be largely acquired for $1.6 billion by the Chinese-owned U.S.-based Key Safety Systems.

In the biggest bankruptcy of a Japanese manufacturer, Takata faces tens of billions of dollars in costs and liabilities resulting from almost a decade of recalls and lawsuits. Its airbag inflators have been linked to at least 16 deaths and 180 injuries around the world because they can rupture and send metal fragments flying. TK Holdings, its U.S. operations, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Sunday with liabilities of $10 billion to $50 billion, while the Japanese parent filed for protection with the Tokyo District Court early on Monday. Scott Caudill, chief operating officer of TK Holdings, said in a court affidavit that the company "faces insurmountable claims" relating to the recalls and owes billions of dollars to automakers. He disclosed that Takata has recalled, or expects to recall, by 2019 about 125 million vehicles worldwide, including more than 60 million in the United States.

Takata's total liabilities stand at 1.7 trillion yen ($15 billion), Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd estimated. Final liabilities would depend on the outcome of discussions with carmaker customers who have borne the bulk of the replacement costs, a lawyer for the company said. The filings open the door to the financial rescue by Key Safety Systems (KSS), a Michigan-based parts supplier owned by China's Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp (600699.SS). In a deal that took 16 months to hammer out, KSS agreed to take over Takata's viable operations, while the remaining operations will be reorganized to continue churning out millions of replacement airbag inflators, the two firms said.

A billboard advertisement of Takata Corp is pictured in Tokyo​

The U.S. company would keep "substantially all" of Takata's 60,000 employees in 23 countries and maintain its factories in Japan. The agreement is meant to allow Takata to continue operating without interruptions and with minimal disruptions to its supply chain. "We believe taking these actions in Japan and the U.S. is the best way to address the ongoing costs and liabilities of the airbag inflator issues with certainty and in an organized manner," Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada said in a statement. The remainder of Takata assets will be reorganized to produce replacement inflators, but it is not clear how long they will operate. Takata said it plans to continue building older model inflators for as long as five years at plants in China, Washington state and Mexico. It will not continue producing those inflators at a plant in Germany.

CEO Takada said he and top management would resign "when the timing of the restructuring is set." His family - which still has control of the 84-year-old company - likely would cease to be shareholders. Takata in February pleaded in a U.S. federal court to a felony charge as part of a $1-billion settlement that included compensation funds for automakers and victims of its faulty airbag inflators. The company expects to honor the terms of the agreement and pay the $850 million due for automaker compensation. Three former senior Takata executives were charged in January in a U.S. court with falsifying test results but have not made a court appearance. About two-thirds of 46.2 million recalled Takata inflators in the United States have not been fixed. In June 2016, federal regulators said inflators in 2001-2003 model Honda and Acura vehicles have up to a 50-percent chance of a dangerous airbag inflator rupture in a crash and urged owners to stop driving until repairs were made.

MORE

 

[DGS49]

Look at the numbers. Millions and millions of cars,, tens of thousands of accidents...18 killed.

Statistically speaking, WGAF? You have a greater chance of being bitten by a dinosaur. If this is something you are worried about, you need counseling.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Some people are simply worried about the liability. (As in: dealers won't take the car in trade!)

 

[waltky]

NHTSA calls Takata airbags "ticking time bombs"...

NHTSA: Half of Takata airbags not fixed after largest such recall in history
Dec. 9, 2017) -- Fewer than half of the millions of airbags recalled by Japanese company Takata have been replaced in the largest auto-safety recall in U.S. history.

A report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month said only 19.6 million of the 41.8 million airbags -- about 47 percent -- were repaired by the end of October. About 34 million U.S. vehicles were affected. The recalls affected cars from 19 companies outfitted with airbags made by the bankrupt Takata. The NHTSA reported the faulty airbags are linked to 13 deaths and more than 180 injuries. In its report, the NHTSA describes the recall as the "largest and most complex vehicle recalls in U.S. history. ... The words 'grenade' and 'ticking time bomb' accurately convey the lethal potential of the defective inflators."

The NHTSA said the airbags, instead of properly inflating to cushion the victim and avoid injury, detonated in an explosion that "tore apart its steel inflator housing and sprayed high-velocity metal shards at the victim." People suffered fatal injuries to the head, spine and lacerations caused extreme blood loss. The agency noted that manufacturers have enhanced their efforts to fix the affect bags as repair rates have "doubled or even tripled" over the years. By the end of October, some cary companies had completed more than half of the recall. They included Tesla (78.6 percent), Honda/Acura (64.8 percent) and Subaru (50.2 percent). The worst completion rates included Mercedes-Benz (2.2 percent), Mitsubishi (23 percent) and Mazda (27.1 percent).

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration described the potential impact of defective Takata airbags as a "grenade" and a "ticking time bomb."​

Honda, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota had the most recalls. Honda had 17.7 million inflators installed in 11.4 million Hondas and Acuras. The company has repaired 11.4 million inflators. In an effort to contact consumers, Honda has gone door-to-door finding owners who have not responded to mailings and has begun using Facebook to send warnings to car owners. In all, the company said it has made 150 million attempts to contact customers. "On the parts side, we've been in pretty good shape for a while," Honda spokesman Chris Martin told the Detroit News. He was referring to early shortages of parts, which discouraged some owners from taking their cars to dealers. Honda also said it has removed about 80,000 dangerous air bags from salvage yards.

At Chrysler, about 8.7 million inflators were impacted by the recall, and Chris Freeman, Takata campaign manager for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said his company has completed 49 percent of its highest-priority repairs. "We're not in any way parts-challenged," Freeman told the Detroit News. "We're not turning customers away because of any parts issue." Toyota has completed about 68 percent of its repairs for the top-three highest-priority groups as identified by federal regulators, Victor Vanov, a spokesman for Toyota, told the Detroit News. About 5 million Toyotas were impacted by the recall. "For us, we have the parts, it's just a matter of getting folks to come and get it replaced," he said. "We have a steady flow of parts coming in, it's just a matter of getting customers to come in and get the repairs done, which takes less than an hour."

NHTSA: Half of Takata airbags not fixed after largest such recall in history