Yet another person has been killed by a defective airbag inflator, bringing the worldwide death toll to 26, with over 240 others who have been seriously injured by these devices. Since 2014, nearly 50 million Takata airbags have been recalled in the United States alone, with recalls affecting nearly every vehicle manufacturer, including the Detroit Three, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Daimler, Subaru, Volkswagen, and Audi.
The latest death occurred on August 20, 2020, in a crash involving a 2002 Honda Civic that had a Takata airbag installed in it at the time the car was manufactured. The issue with the Takata airbags involves the improper use of ammonium nitrate as a propellant for the airbag. Ammonium nitrate deteriorates after long-term exposure to high temperature fluctuations and humidity. Once the ammonium nitrate deteriorates, its detonation power increases significantly, which causes the metal housing to break into shards and spray throughout the cabin, when the ammonium nitrate is ignited to deploy the airbag during a crash.
The dangers of using ammonium nitrate as an airbag propellant were known to Takata and to car manufacturers for years, yet they continued to install these defective airbags into vehicles, despite alternative designs that were available from other airbag manufacturers.
The attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner have been fighting for the rights of people injured by negligently manufactured and negligently designed products for decades. If you or someone you know has been injured by an airbag defect or by any other product defect, contact the experienced attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner at (713) 222-7211 or toll free at 713-222-7211.