The largest safety recall in history just grew even larger with the addition of 40 million defective Takata airbags(http://www.edwardslawok.com/takata-airbag-recall-lawyers.html) to the already massive list of recalled vehicles. The defective devices have been linked to 11 deaths and more than 100 injuries.
Previous recalls throughout the last decade have included 24 million vehicles manufactured by 14 automakers in the United States. The newest announcement will likely involve nearly every automaker and could include more than 50 million affected vehicles.
Because some vehicles have more than one airbag, the number of recalled vehicles is smaller than the number of recalled airbags. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of vehicles that will be affected at this point.
Takata Airbag Recall Difficulties
One of the significant challenges associated with recalling so many vehicles is coming up with enough replacement parts. Takata has been scrambling to find parts to send to dealers for necessary repairs.
Many vehicle owners have been forced to wait for months for replacement parts, requiring them to continue to drive a vehicle equipped with a highly volatile defective airbag that has been shown to explode violently. Even a NHTSA administrator’s family vehicle is awaiting a repair.
Because of the delays, automakers like Toyota and BMW have chosen to utilize other parts manufacturers in an attempt to speed up repairs.
Last month, the NHTSA estimated that a little more than eight million vehicles were fixed, but the figure is still less than one third of the total number of vehicles needing repairs. The NHTSA is pushing automakers to do everything they can to reach a 100 percent completion rate.
Have you been hurt by a defective Takata airbag or another faulty product? If so, contact the Edwards Law Firm right away to find out how our skilled defective products attorneys can help maximize your compensation.