USA Today reports that Honda has launched another recall of 304,000 vehicles over faulty airbags blamed in 18 injuries and two deaths. The problem with the air bags is that they can inflate in a crash with too much pressure, causing injury to a vehicle’s occupant. In addition, when an air bag inflates, if there is too much force, small pieces of debris (such as plastic and metal) can also be propelled. This is the fifth recall for Honda over the defective air bag situation since just 2008.
The cars in question are the 2—1 through 2003 Honda and Acura vehicles, including certain Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V, Pilot, Acura 3.2 TL and Acura 3.2 CL vehicles, reports the newspaper. There should be about 273,000 cars involved in the recall in the U.S.
There is also a potential for problems in another 603,000 automobiles if they too received a defective air bag replacement part. Those vehicles must be scheduled for an inspection as well.
Product Liability Action
A product liability recall generally occurs after there have been deaths and/or injuries. In this case, Honda has determined the defect may be in the material used to deploy air bags. Honda has determined there is excessive moisture in the propellant that fuels the inflator. That would likely qualify as a defect in the design of the vehicle. However, the automaker says it has taken care of the vehicles affected and it does not predict any more recalls of faulty airbags will be necessary.
Another necessary component of a defective product action is that the product caused an injury or death. In this case, the manufacturer, designer, importer, or distributor could all be named in a defective product action. Farah & Farah’s team of Florida auto product liability attorneys understand how to investigate these claims and products to bring you a satisfactory resolution. Call us at 1(800) 533-3555.
Source: http://www.fairwarning.org/2011/12/hondas-air-bag-problems-inflate-prompting-more-recalls/; http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/story/2011-12-02/honda-recall/51579826/1
