En Español
The Takata airbag scandal has been claiming lives for years now, and Honda just confirmed a 23rd global fatality. The vehicle was a Honda that crashed into a tree in the city of Kuala Lumpur. 15 of those deaths have occurred in the United States and a further 180 people have been injured by the defective airbags. The first death dates back to 2009. Recall efforts have been slow, with dealers running out of supplies and being unable to contact current owners of vehicles. Malaysia might have an incentive for those still driving with defective airbags: they plan to impose fine on car owners who still have recalled airbags in their vehicle, as PBS reports.
Honda issued a statement that said the vehicle involved in the fatal crash had been part of the 2015 recall.
Malaysia’s transport minister, Anthony Loke, said that Honda sent the owners of the vehicle 28 recall notices. One of those notices was sent out just 5 days before the crash. However, the family did not receive the notices because they failed to update their address when they moved.
Honda additionally reported that while 220,000 airbags in Malaysia had been replaced, that there were still 71,315 owners that have not responded to the recall.
Loke plans to make it so that owners of vehicles that are under recall but have not fixed their vehicles will be unable to renew their road tax until their vehicles are fixed.
Just last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that several automakers would be issuing new recalls as the airbag scandal continues.
Have you been injured in an accident? We can help. Contact us today.
