Japanese automaker Honda confirmed on Wednesday that a driver of a 2002 Honda Accord was seriously injured when a defective Takata airbag ruptured during a car crash. The company added that the accident took place on March 3 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Honda said that the faulty air bag inflator was not installed by an authorized dealer. The company believes that it was likely salvaged from parts coming from a junk yard. In order to prevent the same incidents from happening in the future, Honda said that it had purchased more than 60,000 salvaged Takata airbag modules in various junk shops.
Millions of vehicles are affected by #Takata #airbag #recall. Check for this recall & others by visiting: https://t.co/yN76FEi6IX #safercar pic.twitter.com/yItCpOEH5h
— VirginiaDMV (@VirginiaDMV) April 20, 2017
Police reports showed that the 18-year-old victim sustained a punctured would in her trachea in a rear-end car crash, according to Reuters. Initial investigations reveal that the injury is the same to those previously reported and linked to the faulty Takata airbag modules.
Takata inflators can explode and unleash metal shrapnel inside the car which can cause serious injuries and even fatality to the occupants. This particular defect is blamed for at least 16 fatalities and more than 180 injuries.
The faulty Takata airbag scandal has prompted an international recall of more than 100 million inflators. The recall also covered more than a dozen automakers.
In January, Taka pleaded guilty to criminal wrongdoing regarding the defective airbag issue. The company paid $1 billion to resolve the lawsuit.
As part of the settlement agreement, Takata established two independently administered restitution funds. The first one received $850 million and will compensate automakers that were affected by the recall. The second one received $125 million and will compensate individuals who were injured by defective Takata airbags and have not year reached a settlement.
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