Honda, Takata and the NHTSA To Testify Before Congress Thursday

Honda and Takata are both being sued after a fatal car accident in Florida. Hien Tran was killed when her 2001 Honda Accord hit another vehicle and the airbag reportedly exploded. Reports indicate that Tran’s death was initially investigated as a homicide because of what was described as “stab-type” wounds found on her body. Those wounds, according to the premise of the lawsuit, apparently came from metal shrapnel, which purportedly came from an exploding airbag inflator. Tran’s 2001 Accord is among those that have been recalled due to its Takata airbag system. Particularly in humid climates, there have been reports of exploding airbag inflators that have caused injuries. Including Tran, there have been 4 reported deaths in the United States.

The news of this lawsuit comes just a day before the Takata airbag recall is scheduled to be part of an investigation by the Senate Commerce Committee. The investigation is centered on the 7.8 million vehicles, which have currently been recalled due to possibly faulty Takata airbags. Those who are confirmed by the Detroit News to be testifying at the hearing are: David Friedman, NHTSA Deputy Administrator, Rick Schostek, executive vice president at Honda North America; Scott Kunselman, senior vice president for vehicle safety and regulatory compliance at Chrysler Group LLC; as well as Stephanie Erdman, who was injured in a Honda vehicle accident in Florida in 2013. Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, who is chairing the hearing, tweeted today about the upcoming investigation. Senator Nelson’s tweet reads, “Tomorrow I’m asking officials for answers about deadly exploding airbags at 10am Senate hearing.” Also leading up to that hearing the NHTSA has called for the Takata airbag recall to be extended to the entire United States. Currently, the recall is situated in areas of high humidity in the southeastern U.S. and Puerto Rico. On the call for recall expansion, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said, “By demanding this national recall, NHTSA has demonstrated once again that it will follow data and evidence to protect the lives of Americans on the road and to hold manufacturers accountable.” To echo the sentiments of Secretary Foxx, the NHTSA Deputy Administrator, David Friedman who is testifying at the hearing spoke in support of the national recall. “We now know that millions of vehicles must be recalled to address defective Takata air bags and our aggressive investigation is far from over,” Friedman said in a statement. “We’re pushing Takata and all affected manufacturers to issue the recall and to ensure the recalls capture the full scope of the problems.” Friedman’s words come just a short time after the organization that he oversees provided a insufficient response to the Takata issue. After the NHTSA urged consumers to look up Takata airbag recalls on their website, Safecar.gov, the website was partially down for 48 hours. The NHTSA appears to be willing to continue to be proactive about the Takata airbag situation.

A national recall of Takata airbags could prove to be gigantic. An estimated 37 million vehicles in the U.S. employ a Takata airbag system. While they wouldn’t all necessarily be recalled, the number would certainly rise much higher than the current 7.8 million. A topic, which we covered previously, was how much the Takata airbag recalls could impact dealerships. A significant amount of popular used vehicles, such as the early 2000s Honda Accords are currently recalled. With the increasing media attention that the recall has received, will your customers be asking you about the recall? What is your message for them? Are you concerned about being overwhelmed by the recalls themselves if the size of recalled vehicles increases significantly? What are you doing to do keep a close eye on this situation?