This is a disaster. The giant Takata airbag recall affecting more than 7 million U.S. passenger vehicles from a variety of auto manufacturers is proving difficult to combat. To briefly recap, there’s an issue with the airbag propellant that, in high-humidity states, can lead to shrapnel being fired into passengers when an affected airbag detonates. This has led to injuries that can present like stab wounds.
This morning on NPR’s Morning Edition, Detroit News Correspondent David Shepardson explained that while owners of affected vehicles have been instructed to take immediate action, that doesn’t necessarily mean that a replacement will be available to them. Shepardson used Toyota as an example, saying that the company is diverting replacement airbag supplies from cold-weather states to the high-humidity states where the problem is most serious.
That said, the matter is so grave from a safety perspective that Toyota is taking the extreme step of disabling the passenger airbag entirely if a replacement is not available and putting a “Do Not Sit Here” decal in the car until a proper repair can be effected. You can listen to the NPR segment in its entirety below:
Toyota is not alone. CNBC’s Phil LeBeau also Tweeted this morning that General Motors will follow suit:
BREAKING: $GM to warn owners of some cars w/ faulty airbags NOT to allow passengers ride in front seat until airbag is fixed.
— Phil LeBeau (@Lebeaucarnews) October 22, 2014
- Toyota and GM Expand Takata Airbag Recall, Chewing Gum Found in Airbag Inflator
- Honda and Takata Allegedly Knew About Airbag-Related Deaths for Years
- Multiple Automakers Have Issued Recalls for Shrapnel-Shooting Airbags
To determine whether you are driving a car affected by this recall—remember, it’s not just GM and Toyota, as 14 brands are affected—visit this NHTSA web page and enter your car’s VIN number to see if it has any open recalls. If the airbag recall is one of them, call your dealer and make an appointment. You can also seek guidance at your car manufacturer’s consumer website.
This story originally appeared on roadandtrack.com.
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