Takata Airbags Replaced By Identical Refits After Biggest Automobile Safety Recall

Choice, Australia's non-profit consumer organization, revealed Sunday that the leading automobile companies, who were forced to recall a number of units from the market after the faulty Takata airbags in them had claimed the lives of 18 people and injured more than 180 around the world, were refitting their cars with identical airbags again.

More than 100 million cars with Takata airbags, including around 70 million vehicles in the United States, have been recalled since news of the company’s faulty airbags surfaced in 2007, making it the biggest recall in automotive history. A detailed investigation launched into the matter by Choice has found that about 70 percent of the recalled vehicles after the Takata airbag scandal have not replaced their faulty safety devices yet.

Read: Takata Recall Update 2017: Full List Of Ford Cars Affected, How To Get A Refund

Choice spokesperson Tom Godfrey said that the airbags in question are known to have faulty inflators which expanded with too much force, spraying metal shrapnel into the face of the very people it was supposed to protect, the Australian News outlet Daily Mercury reported. “It can fire shrapnel at you and your family," he said.

“The scale and severity of this recall is terrifying. It's clear that these car companies are under a great deal of pressure … it's unfortunate that many people who contact them can't get a remedy within a reasonable period of time," he added.

Car companies such as Toyota, Mazda, BMW, Lexus and Subaru admitted to refitting their recalled vehicles with the same airbags produced by the Japanese Takata corp. that had proved to be unsafe for drivers and co-passengers. When Choice contacted Toyota for an explanation as to why they chose to do so, Toyota defended the Takata airbags saying that there was nothing inherently wrong with the airbags except the fact that the ones which were originally fitted inside their recalled models were quite old.

According to the BBC, Toyota said in a statement, the airbags that were being refitted were temporarily safe for a certain period of time after which they will have to be replaced with fresh ones: “This action provided safety for a number of years, however, due to exposure to the environment over time; these airbags will need to be replaced again.”

Car companies such as Honda, Perfomax, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Nissan, who also had to recall a number of units for the same reason, have not confirmed whether they too will be opting to refit their vehicles with new Takata airbags. Thirteen car manufacturers have had over fifty models of cars detected with faulty airbags ranging between a $15,000 Honda Jazz and a $526,000 Ferrari 458.

"With 2.3 million vehicles in Australia requiring their potentially lethal Takata airbags to be replaced, it's clear the car companies are under pressure to fulfill their obligations under Australian consumer law," Godfrey said Sunday, 9News reported. "However, refitting vehicles with the same dangerous airbags still leaves people driving ticking time bombs," he added.

Read: Takata Airbag Recall 2017: Company May Plead Guilty Of Criminal Wrongdoing Under $1 Billion Settlement With US Regulators

The 18^th person to have been killed due to Takata’s faulty airbag is a 58-year-old in Sydney, Friday. When the victim’s Honda CRV slammed into another vehicle at an intersection, the faulty airbag deployed, lodging a small piece of shrapnel into his neck, which caused him to bleed out and die.

After facing billions of dollars in liabilities, Takata filed for bankruptcy in June 2017, CNN reported. "We caused troubles for our supporters, those who cooperated with us and the creditors," Shigehisa Takada, chairman of Takata, said during a press conference in June 2017, bowing before the cameras.

"On behalf of Takata, I apologize deeply from the bottom of my heart," he concluded.