Another Honda Airbag Recall

Anyone who has ever been in a serious car accident can attest to the importance of properly working airbags. On the other hand, defective airbags in automobiles can cause serious injury. And many injuries occur when defective airbags either fail to deploy or when they deploy without reason.

Honda has recently announced that it is recalling certain cars, many in the Atlanta area, due to a defect in their driver’s airbag inflator. It seems that the inflator pumps too much air into the bag. And too much air can lead to the rupturing of the bag, scattering metallic equipment through the airbag into the air.

So far, twelve injuries and one death have been related to the defective airbag inflators. Honda had recently expanded its recall in an effort to account for 640 more inflators, which may have been used as replacement parts. Therefore, a total of 272,000 vehicles have been added to the recall.

The 2001 – 2002 Accords, 2001 – 2003 Civics, 2002 – 2003 CR-Vs, 2001 – 2003 Odysseys, 2003 Pilots, 2002 – 2003 Acura 3.2 TLs, and the 2003 Acura 3.2 CLs have all been affected by Honda’s recall. A Stop Sale order has also been issued by Honda to all its franchised dealers on all previously owned vehicles that may have damaged airbags.

Honda’s airbag recall actually began back in November of 2008. However, it was extended numerous times to include more vehicles. The Associated Press reported that one person was seriously injured when an airbag deployed while the driver was stopped at a red light, though there was no accident. Shrapnel, causing the driver to spend weeks under hospital care, severed the driver’s neck artery.

An 18 year old died in 2009 when metal fragments from the airbag in her 2001 Honda Accord punctured her chest and neck causing her to bleed to death. The airbag deployed when the victim was involved in a minor car accident. 2.53 million Honda automobiles have been recalled since December as a result of these faulty airbag