1.8 million ‘ticking time bombs’ on the road: New data highlights remaining airbag risk

A NEW state-by-state breakdown of the deadly Takata airbags recall shows the danger still facing many on our roads with 1.8 million ‘ticking time bombs’ not replaced.

THERE are nearly 2 million potentially deadly airbags in Australian cars that still need replacing.

The country’s top consumer watchdog has released comprehensive state-by-state data detailing recall rates for deadly Takata airbags, hoping it will prompt manufacturers and customers to deal with the “ticking time bombs”.

The data published today by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) shows the progress made by various vehicle manufacturers in removing them from Australian cars. The consumer watchdog has been overseeing the compulsory recall for the past year.

Over the past 12 months, 1.1 million faulty Takata airbags have been replaced in around 930,000 vehicles but 1.8 million dangerous airbags still need replacing.

ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard is warning motorists to get the faulty airbags replaced as they can degrade over time and become lethal by misdeploying and firing metal shards at anyone in the car.

Some Takata airbags are more volatile than others and of the 1.8 million airbags that remain on the road, about 19,500 are the most dangerous “alpha” airbags.

The alpha Takata airbags pose the greatest safety risk and have a one-in-two chance of spraying shrapnel when deployed in a crash. They were installed in certain BMW, Honda, Lexus, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota models sold between 2001 and 2004.

Ms Rickard said the alpha airbags need to be replaced urgently, and that anyone with a car fitted with the device should not drive them until they’ve been fixed.

“Make no mistake, these airbags can kill and our advice is for consumers to check our website to see if their car is affected by this recall. If your car contains an alpha airbag, it should not be driven,” she said in a statement this morning.

NSW has the highest number of vehicles yet to be fixed at 500,000, closely followed by Victoria at 448,000. Of those, nearly 10,000 are thought to be alpha airbags.

Queensland still has 326,168 in need of replacing, Western Australia has 162,494 and South Australia has 103,390.

State and territory breakdown of airbags needing replacement.

In terms of manufacturers, the worst hit by the faulty airbags was Toyota, which includes its luxury brand Lexus, followed by Honda.

Suppliers were not required to commence recalling vehicles until July 1, 2018, although some began earlier.

Toyota has already rectified nearly 400,000 vehicles and needs to replace a further 192,000. Honda has rectified 325,000 and still has 112,000 to replace.

Meanwhile BMW has shown the worst rate of replacement among manufacturers in the first year of the recall, according to the ACCC data. Of the more than 205,000 dangerous airbags in BMW cars, only 21,635 have been replaced.

Other manufacturers who got an early start on replacements include Ferrari, Fiat Chrysler, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Subaru.

Manufacturers that had not begun a meaningful recall prior to July this year include Audi, Ford, Citroen, GM Holden, Jaguar, McLaren, Mercedes, Skoda, Tesla and Volkswagen.

Suppliers commencing recall action prior to July 1, 2018

Car makers around the world issued a voluntary recall of vehicles fitted with Takata airbags in early 2017 after they were linked to at least 23 deaths and more than 230 serious injuries.

The Federal Government ordered its own national recall in February this year following a recommendation from the ACCC after the voluntary recall was deemed ineffective.

Ms Rickard welcomed the launch of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries national consumer awareness campaign and new online tool, www.ismyairbagsafe.com.au.

The $6 million advertising campaign dubbed “Don’t Die Wondering” aims to locate the remaining vehicles with potentially deadly airbags, some of which have a 50-50 chance of spraying shrapnel in a crash.

Launching the website earlier this week chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Tony Weber said: “There have been 24 reported deaths and 266 injuries worldwide caused by … Takata airbag inflator ruptures, with one death and one serious injury reported in Australia.”

Some car companies have hired private investigators to contact vehicle owners or retrieve faulty airbags from cars in wrecking yards.

Other measures include dealers being banned from selling used cars equipped with faulty airbags. The same restrictions do not apply to private sellers.

Mr Weber added: “It is vital that vehicle owners don’t underestimate the seriousness of this national recall.”