More than 50,000 Australians could have deadly airbags in their cars
Up to 50,000 drivers in Australia are driving cars containing a model of airbag that is known for being defective in a crash.
One-in-two of the ‘alpha’ models of the Takata airbag also releases metal shrapnel towards the driver and passengers.
The airbags were used in Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Lexus and BMW models from 1999 to 2006.
Consumer group CHOICE is calling for the mass numbers of cars with the airbags to be taken off the roads.
In 2009, a recall of more than 150,000 cars was issue due to the risk of the alpha inflators inside the Takata air bags, however, more than 51,000 of these cars remain on the roads.
Tests have proved that the airbags are also dangerous due to the shards of metal that can be sent flying upon impact.
During testing, the metal was sent flying 50 per cent of the time.
Tom Godfrey from CHOICE said it was a worrying sign for the Aussie motorists driving these models of cars.
“These airbags fail in one-in-two deployments. You have a 50 per cent chance in an accident that your family will be hit with lethal shrapnel,” Mr Godfrey said.
Takata’s airbags age over time and the alpha inflators are its oldest at 11-18 years.
In the US, 80 per cent of fatalities linked to Takata airbags were found to be directly linked to the alpha inflators.
The news of the danger of these airbags follows the death of a 58-year-old in New South Wales last month in a road accident.
The man received five recall notices from Honda before his airbag was defective after the crash.
Takata Corp filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo and the US in June, claiming it was the only way to ensure it could continue supplying replacements for faulty airbag inflators.