A 17-year-old driver of a 2002 Honda Civic was killed last month after her Takata air bag ruptured during a rear-end crash. This is the 10th known U.S. death in addition to over 100 people that have been injured when their Takata airbags exploded with too much force.
The latest death took place on March 31 in Fort Bend County, Texas. According to witnesses the Civic’s driver rear-ended a Honda CR-V. The accident was a minor one and everyone was wearing seat belts. Everybody should have walked away from the accident, but a piece of shrapnel from the inflator cut the driver’s carotid artery.
Honda said the owner had been mailed multiple notices about the recall, but repairs were never made. The NHTSA said the crash shows how important it is for people to get Takata recall repairs made as quickly as possible.
Takata has recalled approximately 24 million airbags in 19 million vehicles in the US. The latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showes that as of March 11, 2016, only about 7.5 million inflators have been replaced.