After Calls for Action from Klobuchar, Expands National Recall of Defective Airbags Linked to Horrific Injuries Across the Country
After calls for action from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Takata Corp. has expanded its national recall of defective airbags linked to a string of horrific injuries across the country. Despite evidence that defective Takata airbags pose a risk outside of high absolute humidity areas, Takata for months refused to comply with requests from federal transportation safety officials to expand its recall nationally. Today's announcement will expand regional recalls of Takata passenger-side inflators to nationwide recalls involving 16 million vehicles. It will also expand the current nationwide recall of driver-side inflators to more than 17 million vehicles.
In a December 2014 letter to Takata's senior vice president, Klobuchar urged Takata to address the threat that defective air bags pose to public safety and to ensure all vehicles with defective components are removed from the road.
"After months of being asleep at the wheel and refusing to take action to protect consumers, Takata has finally stepped up and expanded its recall," Klobuchar said. "Defective Takata air bags have transformed a safety feature responsible for saving lives into a ticking time bomb that has already been linked to numerous deaths and serious injuries in Minnesota and across the country. Expanding the recalls is a step in the right direction to help protect consumers, and I will keep holding Takata's feet to the fire until there are no more vehicles on the road with these dangerous airbags."
Mrs. Shashi Chopra from North Oaks, Minnesota, was a passenger in a 2002 BMW that crashed, deploying a Takata airbag. The investigation surrounding the case remains open, but Mrs. Chopra was left permanently blind. The crash occurred in March 2013, yet the family was not informed about the defect until September 2014 as part of an expanded recall from 2013.
During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last year, Klobuchar pressed a Takata executive, automakers, and a key federal transportation official about these dangerous air bags and urged them to do everything possible to protect consumers.
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