Yet another massive auto recall has been issued to address potential defects in Takata airbags which could cause them to explode with such force that they cause serious injury or even death to vehicle occupants. On Monday morning, Toyota Motor Corp announced that they will recall nearly 1.6 million more vehicles in the United States because of possible problems with passenger-side Takata airbags.
Reuters reports that this morning Toyota announced that the recall includes “some but not all” 2006 through 2011 Corolla, Matrix, Yaris, 4Runner, Sienna, Scion xB, Lexus ES, GX and IS vehicles.
With the vehicles recalled today included, Toyota says that they have now recalled 4.73 million vehicles in the United States to address Takata airbag issues.
It is expected that additional recalls will be issued by the 17 other automakers with vehicles equipped with Takata airbags by the end of the week. Last week, Daimler AG reported that they will recall at least 197,000 additional vehicles in the United States. All of these vehicles have already been affected by driver-side Takata airbag recalls. Previously, 14 auto makers had been affected, but it was recently announced that Tesla, Fisker Automotive, and Jaguar Land Rover also feature Takata airbags in some vehicles.
Also last week, Takata reported that their investigations showed that, in addition to the 28.8 million airbag inflators already recalled in the United States before May 4, between 35 and 40 million additional airbags will be recalled by 2019.
Even before the recent recall expansions were announced, the Takata airbag recalls were the largest automotive recalls in U.S. history. The inflators in both driver-side and passenger-side airbags made by this Japanese manufacturer may become unstable and could deploy with such explosive force that they send metal and plastic shrapnel flying through vehicle cabins. Already, 13 deaths and more than 100 severe injuries have been blamed on defective Takata airbags.
A number of injured passengers and drivers as well as families of individuals killed by exploding Takata airbags have already filed personal injury lawsuits in demand of compensation from the allegedly negligent auto parts manufacturer, and it is expected that more lawsuits will follow as the demand for replacement airbag inflators far exceeds the current supply. For more information on Takata airbag lawsuits, please contact us to schedule a legal consultation at no cost to you.
