Takata tragedy: Airbag victim believed recall should have been widened

Mechanic Goce Velovski, who was killed last year by a faulty Takata airbag in a 1998 BMW, believed the recent recall of the deadly product should have also applied to older cars like his.

The widow of a mechanic killed by a faulty Takata airbag in his 1998 BMW has revealed her husband believed older cars such as his should have been recalled along with newer ­models.

Speaking publicly for the first time since her husband Goce died in September 2019, Suzy Velovski told The Daily Telegraph she remembered the couple watching a TV news story two years earlier about Sydney man Huy Neng Ngo who was killed in 2017 by a Takata airbag while driving a relatively new Honda CR-V.

Suzy Velovski and her children Marko 8, Annstasija 16, Sofija 5, and Magdalena 14 at the memorial for Goce Velovski near Queanbeyan where he died when a Takata airbag in his car malfunctioned. Picture: Andrew Taylor

“Goce said ‘they should fix all the vehicles, not just the newer ones’,” recalled Mrs Velovski, who has been left to raise their four children.

“He was really big on safety. He roused on people about their brakes.

“So for him to die this way is ­unbelievable.”

Mr Ngo’s car was covered by one of numerous industry-led voluntary recalls that in eight years rectified just 38 per cent of an estimated 2.4 million affected vehicles which were made almost entirely from 2000 onwards.

While the voluntary recalls progressed slowly, there were attempts to warn the Ngo family.

Suzy Velovski with a framed photograph of late husband Goce. Picture: Andrew Taylor

Huy Neng Ngo, 58, died as a result of the Takata airbag in his vehicle. Picture: 7News

A coronial inquest heard Honda arranged for five letters to be sent to the family and their car was booked to get the defective airbags replaced two days before the crash.

But the Ngos were unable to make the appointment. In 2018, it emerged that four million cars were affected and the federal government imposed a compulsory safety recall.

Mr Ngo is the only person known to have been killed in Australia by an airbag now covered by the compulsory recall — 97 per cent of affected vehicles have been fixed.

The type of Takata airbag in Mr Velovski’s car — a non-azide driver inflator (NADI) — is found in 81,500 vehicles made before the year 2000.

But NADI airbags are not part of the compulsory recall.

They were not even being voluntarily recalled at the time of his death, so the family had no warning.

This lack of action was despite a NADI airbag killing a person in the Northern Territory in 2011, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. Authorities only became aware of that fatality when doing checks prompted by Mr Velovski’s death, which also led eight carmakers to start voluntary recalls of NADI airbags.

The scene of Huy Neng Ngo, 58, died from his Takata airbag. Picture: 7News

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications yesterday said it and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission did not recommend a compulsory recall of NADI airbags to the government because “all affected manufacturers initiated voluntary recalls in a timely and appropriate way”.

Voluntary recalls started more quickly, the department said.

All but 6000 at-risk cars were now rectified, it added.

Still, the NRMA said all recalls should be compulsory because they were backed by legislation that forced manufacturers to act faster.

“There should be no more voluntary recalls,” NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury told the Telegraph.

Goce Velovski's 1998 BMW 318i.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber said car makers were progressing “the recall of vehicles fitted with NADI airbags as quickly as possible”.

Mrs Velovski urged motorists to check if their car was fitted with any of the affected Takata airbags.

This can be done by visiting the industry-run website ismyairbagsafe.com.au.

“What are you waiting for – another accident? It could be you,” she said. “People don’t realise how serious this is.”

Incredibly, the ismyairbagsafe site does not include all vehicles with a NADI airbag.

A complete list can be found with the web search “Recall of Takata NADI 5-AT airbags”.

Mrs Velovski said she felt let down by Takata “for putting people’s lives at risk” and attempting a cover-up, adding: “I am angry that the airbag company kept this a secret.”

In 2017, Takata admitted to hiding evidence that its airbags could explode with excessive force, shooting shrapnel into drivers and passengers. The Japanese company agreed to pay a $US1 billion ($1.3bn) penalty.

It went bust the same year, facing liabilities in America alone of as much as $US50bn ($68bn).

Their youngest child, five-year-old Sofija, lights a candle in his memory every day.

Sofija Velovski lights a candle for her father, Goce. Picture: Andrew Taylor

“Goce was an excellent father,” Mrs Velovski said.

His passions included hunting, fishing, snow and the culture of his homeland, Macedonia, which he passed on to his children by teaching them the language.

He was restoring an early model Citroen he had hoped to complete before his eldest child Anastasija’s Year 10 formal.

“But he didn’t get a chance to,” Mrs Velovski said.

“I want people to know what happened to him so that it doesn’t happen to them.”

He was 51. A coronial inquest is set for August next year.

Check your car at ismyairbagsafe.com.au

Originally published as Takata tragedy: Airbag victim believed recall should have been widened