Honda Expands Its Dangerous Air Bags Recall to Side Air Bags

The last two years have been dominated by recalls in the auto industry and if you are a car owner, it’s easy to overlook or discount these important actions because of the inconvenience they cause. Recently I took a Chrysler Town and Country in for a recall. The only notification of a problem was a small notice in the mail, which would have been easy to overlook. But the defect was a serious one that could have caused the car to stall.

There are many problems with recalls. It’s hard to replace parts that are in short supply .This is certainly proving to be the case with the mass recalls of Takata air bags on many makes of vehicle.

In May Takata extended its recall to a massive 33.8 million cars in the US, making this the biggest recall in the history of the American automobile industry. These air bags have been linked to injuries and deaths because they can explode in a fender bender, sending shrapnel into drivers and passengers.

Recalls are seldom straightforward and the scale of the Takata recall has put considerable pressure on the industry and the people who supply parts. There is evidence that many people are ignoring the recall. In the latest twist in the saga, Honda says 1.4 million cars that have already being recalled to fix their driver airbags now also need their passenger side airbags replaced, reports CNN.

Previously, the automaker only intended to replace passenger airbags in 350,000 of its cars in humid areas of the country, which Takata had said were most at risk for problems. Now it says it will replace the passenger airbags in all the vehicles with problem airbags. All recalled cars are repaired at no expense to the car’s owner, but that’s not to say the repair will be a quick and easy process.

The models included in the expanded recall – the popular 2001 to 2005 Civic and the 2003 to 2007 Accord — are among Honda top selling cars.

Takata initially tried to limit the recalls to humid regions such as Florida, Texas and South Carolina but eventually caved into the demands of U.S. safety regulators that all U.S. cars with the airbags be recalled.

CNN reports there have been at least seven deaths tied to the exploding airbags, all of them involving driver airbags. Details of the seventh death are highly disturbing. Honda confirmed a faulty air bag link in the death of Kylan Langlinais, a 22-year-old Lafayette, Louisiana woman, who was killed in an April 5 accident. Honda said she had been mailed a recall notice for her 2005 Honda Civic a mere three days before the accident.

If you have received a recall notice, please act on it immediately. Our Virginia product liability lawyers file lawsuits against the makers of products that kill and injure people. Over the last two years many deaths and injuries have been linked to defective cars, notably faulty ignition switches in General Motors cars. The death toll linked to the GM switch recall rose to 114 this week.

If you have been hurt by a defective product, call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers at 757.455.0077 for a free consultation.