“The NHTSA urges owners of certain Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, and General Motors vehicles to act immediately on recall notices to replace defective Takata airbags,” the agency said in a statement.
The warning did not state exactly why owners should quickly respond to recall notices, but several drivers and passengers have been killed or seriously injured due to airbag failure or shrapnel from exploding inflators. The problem has been blamed on the propellant chemicals, which are prone to explode with excessive force when exposed to humidity over time.
“The message comes with urgency, especially for owners of vehicles affected by the regional recalls in the following areas: Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and Hawaii,” the NHTSA added.
The recall has continued to expand over several months, currently listing more than 4.7 million vehicles from the six different automakers. Honda accounts for more than half of the total, using the defective components in eight models with 2001-2011 model years.
Leave a Reply