The U.S. government asked automakers to speed up in fixing 42 million vehicles that were recalled due to a potentially defective Takata airbag inflators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released an order to automakers to set a deadline for replacements.
Takata, an automated parts company based in Japan, is the major supplier of airbags installed in cars from the year 2002 to 2015 model. Apparently, Takata knew the risk of its airbags since 2004 and hid the information to the public while designing a possible fix for its airbags.
Takata Airbag issue sparked
The Takata airbag controversy sparked when New York Times reported that two former employees of Takata revealed that the company secretly conducted tests on 50 airbags in 2004. The tests were done due to a report that metal debris was spewed to one driver in Alabama after the Takata airbag was ruptured. Four years after, Takata has made its first recall in November 2008 after confirming that there's a problem with its airbags.
Automakers started to recall with Takata airbag problem
The affected automakers have been recalling its model cars with installed Takata airbag inflator since the issue sparked. Recently, the Department of Transportation released a more aggressive recall schedule which will impact 42 million vehicles in the United States out of 64 to 69 million total airbags.
According to Fox News, the officials in NHTSA will require 19 automakers to follow the released schedule and to submit plans on how the automakers plan to replace Takata airbags. NHTSA believes that the automakers were not doing enough with the recall as only 12.5 million or 18 percent of the inflators were replaced.
500,000 and Luxury vehicles with Takata airbag
A civic and community leaders from North Texas calls out the attention of thousands of motorists to comply with the government massive recall of their vehicles with defective Takata airbags. According to Dallas News, an estimated 500,000 vehicles in North Texas may be affected by the recall. This includes even the luxury cars like the Tesla, Ferrari, and McLaren as an updated list of affected car brands was released.
As of the moment, car owners may check their car if it's part of the Takata airbag recall by noting down their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and use NHTSA link, Recalls Lookup by VIN. The complete list of car brands that are under recall and future to be recalled can be checked on www.safercar.gov.