It says a batch of airbag inflators manufactured by a certain company can rupture when inflating the bag, spraying the airbagee with metal shrapnel. Some injuries and even a few fatalities from this have happened.
Nope. Link doesn’t work for me. I have a 2014 Corolla and from other sites, I gather any car like mine is included in the recall if it was built before June of 14. I bought in Nov 14. I have not received any recall notice but I did find a directive not to have any front seat passengers until this is repaired.
Should I have to search out the info? I think not.
The second article (“Few Answers . . .”) mentions that they can’t get through to the government web site either, although I don’t know if it’s the same one I tried. This article also gives a variety of other links that might help, including the web pages of a bunch of auto manufacturers’ recall lists.
Google defective airbag recall to find many more cites.
This is definitely a big deal. Takata is one of the biggest automotive suppliers around. Pretty much every automaker uses their airbags.
What I don’t get is why they’re only recalling cars in humid climates. If the airbag is basically doing its best impersonation of a claymore mine, then why would this be worse for someone in (say) Florida than in Ohio?
the story is that supposedly moisture is affecting the inflator propellant in such a way that if the airbag is deployed, the propellant detonates instead of undergoing a rapid controlled burn, and bursts the canister which sends metal shrapnel flying.
I’ve never thought having explosive-inflated bags in cars was a very good idea. Especially with how close some people sit next to their steering wheel.
But yeah, it does have links to many manufacturers’ recall pages. So I’m-a bookmarking that. Thanks for this link, ZipperJJ.
What’s with all these recall sites being down? Lemme guess: They’re all overwhelmed with those bazillion car owners trying to look up their cars there.
I guess there was some part source / production variation with the ranges of years and models listed- my truck is on the broad list of vehicles (2005-2008 Dodge Dakotas) listed with this problem, but doesn’t register on the Mopar/Ram VIN lookup as one of the recalled vehicles so I’m guessing I’m ok.
It is acknowledged that this is not a very good idea. It’s just a better idea than letting people impale themselves on steering wheels or brain themselves on windshields like in the old days. So you accept the occasional burn or severe injury from the airbag due to the reduction in even more frequent severe injuries that would happen without the bag.
Flying shrapnel, on the other hand, changes the equation more than a little.