Earlier this year, Japanese carmaker Honda announced that they would be recalling 2.2 million of their cars due to an issue with its airbags which are manufactured by Takata. However it seems that isn’t the end of the story. US regulators the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has advised more than 300,000 Honda owners in the US to stop driving their cars.
This is based on new tests as it was discovered that the airbags used had a 50% chance of exploding upon deployment on impact. This is versus the 1% chance found in other airbags. According to the NHTSA, the affected models include the 2001-2002 Honda Civic, 2001-2002 Honda Accord, 2002-2003 Acura TL, 2002 Honda CR-V, 2002 Honda Odyssey, 2003 Acura CL, 2003 Honda Pilot.
So if you are driving any of these models, it has been advised that you should stop driving them and get them looked at by Honda. With airbags meant to save lives in the event of an accident instead of killing or injuring its occupants, this is obviously something that drivers will want to take a look at ASAP.
The NHTSA said in a statement, “The risk posed by the airbag inflators in these vehicles is grave, and it is critical they be repaired now to avoid more deaths and serious injuries.” In the meantime Honda has since dropped Takata as its airbag supplier.