Ten years after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued the recall of Takata airbags across the country due to their risks of causing death, data from Carfax shows that over 6.4 million vehicles in the US are still fitted with these dangerous airbags. Carfax vehicle history report shows that more than 2.5 million of these vehicles — about 40% — are situated in the states that NHTSA has defined as Zone A, which are areas that are most prone to heat and humidity.
These states are Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. Specifically, fourteen states have at least 150,000 vehicles with Takata airbags that have not been recalled.
The defect occurs because the Takata airbag inflators are sensitive to heat and humidity and deploying them can result in the explosion that sends metal fragments flying into the car cabin like projectiles. According to NHTSA, these airbags have contributed to the death of 27 people in the US and injured more than 400 people. This recall affects around 67.3 million airbags fitted in 42 million vehicles of 19 different automobile manufacturers.
Faisal Hasan, the Carfax General Manager for Data, noted that these potentially fatal airbags remain on the roads in the US despite the considerable efforts made by all the involved parties. Hasan put emphasis on the importance of consumer action saying that the process of having the airbags replaced is quick, costless and could prove to be life-saving.
To help consumers track recalls for their vehicles, Carfax provides the free Car Care application that sends reminders to the users about new recalls for their vehicles. Also, consumers can determine whether their car has an open recall by using Carfax. Recall and entering their Vehicle Identification Number or license plate information, with Carfax giving instant, complimentary recall status updates.
Additionally, CAarfax has partnered with the Alliance for Automotive Innovation to enhance the availability of the Vehicle Recall Search Service which is currently available in some of the American states such as Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maryland, New York State, Ohio, and Texas. The Vehicle Recall Search Service, which was initially introduced in 2018 as a free system, has performed more than 5. According to the company, it has produced 8 billion vehicles since its establishment in 2014 up to the moment of this writing.