DETROIT (AP) – A driver in South Carolina is the youngest person killed by an exploding Takata airbag.
Honda said Wednesday that a faulty driver’s airbag exploded during an accident involving a Honda Accord in 2002 in Lancaster County, South Carolina. The company would not provide details about the January 9 crash near Charlotte, North Carolina, nor the person killed.
Honda officials and the National Road Safety Administration on Wednesday examined the car and the airbag parts and determined that the inflation had exploded, the company said. The death is the 19th in the United States since 2009 and the 28th worldwide caused by faulty inflatable machines.
Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate airbags during an accident. But the chemical can become more volatile over time if exposed to moisture in the air. The explosion could blow a metal tube apart and throw shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
The problem has caused the largest series of car recalls in U.S. history, with at least 63 million inflating machines. The U.S. government says more than 11.1 million have not been corrected since last year. About 100 million inflatables have been recalled worldwide.
Most deaths were in the US, but it also occurred in Australia and Malaysia.
Honda has said it has shared all the information it has with NHTSA and will continue to work on the latest investigation.
The company said the agreement was revoked in the crash in South Carolina in April 2011. As of June 2011, the company has made more than 100 efforts to reach car owners, including mail notifications, phone calls, emails and even personal visits. , reads the statement.
“Our records indicate that the recall was never completed,” the statement said.
The driver said the driver who was killed was not the registered owner of the Accord, and Honda does not know if the driver knew of the irreparable memory.
The car has changed ownership several times, most recently in October 2020, Honda spokesman Chris Martin said. The company sent the current owner a revocation notice on November 17, 2020, Martin said.
Honda says there are adequate supplies of replacement pumps, and is appealing to people to have repairs done, especially to older models.
Drivers can check if their vehicles have been recalled by going to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and entering their 17-digit vehicle identification number.
The memories landed the Takata of Japan in bankruptcy and filed criminal charges against the company. It was eventually purchased by a Chinese-owned auto parts supplier.