Shrapnel-shooting airbags: Is there one in your car?

The automotive world is in turmoil over the massive airbag recall affecting more than 14 million vehicles worldwide from 11 automakers, with 11.6 million of these vehicles in the United States. The problem involves a faulty propellant that is intended to burn quickly and produce gas to inflate the airbag but instead is too strong and can rupture its container, shooting metal parts into the cabin.

The airbag defect has caused injuries (over 100 reported so far in the United States) that appeared to be stab wounds and, in three incidents, led to death. In one incident, there was no road crash and the driver, a young woman, only stopped at a red traffic light but the airbag ruptured and spewed metal shards at her, puncturing her neck and causing profuse bleeding, strokes and seizures, according to her law firm.

The airbags were made by the Japanese supplier Takata, which allegedly knew about the problem as far back as 2004 but did not notify the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) nor announce the defect until April 2013.

LINKED. Two deaths and more than 30 injuries have been linked to detonating airbags in Honda vehicles since 2004, but Honda did not issue a safety recall until late 2008, and it was limited to only about 4,200 of its vehicles. In its recall filings starting in 2008, Honda reportedly did not inform the NHTSA that the affected airbags had ruptured or were linked to injuries and deaths. Neither did Takata.

In November 2009, as airbags continued to rupture in Honda Civics and Accords, propelling metal shards into the cabin, Honda issued more recalls including the CR-V, Pilot, Odyssey and Acura of various model years, until the total number reached five million vehicles in August this year.

The delayed recalls made by Takata and Honda prompted BMW to ask Takata in a March 2010 letter to explain “why BMW vehicles were not affected” by the airbag explosion risks that Honda had. Takata replied with reassurances that BMW vehicles were unaffected because their airbags were manufactured on a different production schedule from Honda’s.

RISK. However, last year, Takata admitted to BMW that its airbags were indeed a rupture risk; BMW has since recalled more than 1.8 million vehicles. Takata’s acknowledgment that it did not know which cars used its defective inflators, or even what caused the airbags to rupture, led other auto manufacturers—Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, Infiniti, Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, General Motors, Mazda, Subaru and Mitsubishi—to issue identical recalls in the United States for some of their models.

Takata had presented several explanations for the faulty airbags. At first, Takata claimed that propellant chemicals were mishandled and improperly stored during assembly, which caused the metal airbag inflators to burst open due to excessive pressure inside. Takata also said in documents reviewed by Reuters that rust, bad welds and even chewing gum dropped into at least one inflator are to blame.

Last July, Takata announced that the airbag propellant was more susceptible to exploding in areas of high humidity, spurring the NHTSA to order regional recalls in high-humidity areas like Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands so that the removed parts could be gathered and sent to Takata for review.

THREAT. Subsequently, two Democratic senators demanded that a nationwide recall on all the affected cars be issued, regardless of where the car is registered, since all states experience seasons of heat and humidity. They also scolded the NHTSA for “the glacial pace of the agency’s response to this public safety threat.”

This warning about heat and humidity increasing the risk of airbags rupturing should concern consumers in the Philippines, which has a climate that is hot and humid all year round. The question arises: Are models of the 11 brands that were issued a recall and that are sold here equipped with airbags from Takata—whether these vehicles are imported CBU (completely built up) or CKD (completely knocked down) from the United States, Japan or Thailand?

Remember that of the 14 million vehicles being recalled worldwide by their manufacturers for possibly defective airbags, 11.6 million are in the United States and 2.4 million are in countries outside the United States. One of those countries could be the Philippines.

WARNED. Not that car owners here can have their airbags replaced promptly even if it turns out that they are included in the worldwide safety recall. In the United States, after the NHTSA warned owners of recalled vehicles with defective airbags to “act immediately” and get them replaced because they could explode, many who tried to do so were turned away because the parts, made by Takata, were not available.

The owner of a 2003 Corolla told the New York Times that his Toyota dealer’s designated repair shop said there was a 90-day backlog for the parts necessary to replace the airbag on his car. Like several other manufacturers, Toyota is diverting replacement airbag supplies in the United States from cold-weather states to high-humidity states where the problem is considered most serious.

EXTREME. In fact, Toyota dealers in the United States have taken the extreme step of offering to disable the passenger airbag entirely if a replacement is not available, then adding a “DO NOT SIT HERE” decal on the dashboard until proper repair can be done. Other automakers and some safety experts, however, question the wisdom of this move.

Meanwhile, the NHTSA is encouraging consumers to visit the NHTSA webpage and enter their car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) to see if it has any open recalls. Or go to the manufacturer’s consumer website.

It is bizarre, if not outrageous, that an automobile component that was designed to save lives can injure or kill the vehicle occupants instead. Automakers whose vehicles are at risk of harming the driver and passengers due to a safety defect are morally bound to announce a recall immediately.

Sources: The International New York Times, Detroit News, Reuters and blog.caranddriver.com.