The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told owners of more than 83,000 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles equipped with faulty Takata airbags to stop driving those vehicles immediately until they get airbags replaced. The Do-Not-Drive Order highlights the ongoing issue with the largest recall in U.S. history.
NHTSA issued a Do-Not-Drive warning for nearly 84,000 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles equipped with dangerous Takata airbags.
The warning covers certain model year 2002-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2002-2004 Nissan Pathfinder and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 vehicles that are subject to open Takata airbag recalls issued in 2020.
Nissan and Infiniti dealers will conduct the replacement at no cost to vehicle owners.
Biggest problem
The safety agency urges all vehicle owners to see if their vehicle is part of the open recall that has encompassed more than 100 million airbag inflators, including more than 7 million used by 18 different automakers in the United States.
NHTSA confirmed 27 people in the U.S. have been killed by a defective Takata airbag that exploded. In addition, at least 400 people in the United States allegedly have been injured by exploding Takata airbag inflators.
“Even minor crashes can result in exploding Takata airbags that can kill or produce life-altering, gruesome injuries,” the agency noted in a release. “Older model-year vehicles put their occupants at higher risk, as the age of the airbag is one of the contributing factors.”
A lack of effort
Problems with exploding Takata airbags have been ongoing for a decade, and the deadly potential of this problem combined with lack of urgency Americans employ in resolving recall repairs has safety officials worried.
According to new CarFax data, more than 6.4 million vehicles in the U.S. still retain the faulty airbags. However, the bigger issue is where these vehicles are in the country.
More than 2.5 million — roughly 40% of all these unfixed vehicles — are located in states that NHTSA calls Zone A, according to CarFax vehicle history data. These states “pose the highest threat to safety” because of their high heat and humidity. They are Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.
More Takata News
- Stellantis Recalls 285,000 Cars Due To Faulty Airbags
- Automakers Battling NHTSA to Halt Another Massive Airbag Recall
- Honda Recalls 750K Vehicles Due to Airbag Problem
The problem
Extended exposure to heat and humidity can cause Takata airbag inflators to deploy far more explosively than expected. That excessive force can launch pieces of metal surrounding the inflator into a vehicle’s cabin like shrapnel, posing a high risk to occupants.
More than 67 million airbags in more than 40 million vehicles have been recalled in models from 19 automakers.
“Even after a decade of a dedicated and committed effort by the vehicle manufacturers, government, non-profits and businesses, it’s concerning that so many affected vehicles continue to be driven on U.S. roads with these potentially dangerous airbags sitting inside,” said Faisal Hasan, CarFax general manager for Data.
“It’s easy to see recall fatigue settle in for many consumers, but they need to act. We know that raising the alarm with local media can make that happen urgently. Getting an airbag replaced is quick, free to them, and could save the life of a loved one — or their own!”
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