Even though it is the middle of the work week, Wednesday night is one of your favorites. Heading out to dinner with friends has become a weekly ritual you don’t think you would miss for anything. It is nice to have something to look forward to half way through the grind. You look down at the airbag light on your dash and think again that you really should get in to the dealer and have the problem looked into. You will call tomorrow, you think, then chuckle to yourself – you have said that more than once.
As you pass through an intersection you see headlights coming at you from the side. You quickly swerve and just miss being sideswiped by a racing sports car. As you sit on the side of the road to take a deep breath and compose yourself you notice the letter from your car manufacturer sitting next to you. Yes, it is time to get the airbag fixed, that was a close one.
Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, and BMW settled a lawsuit with current and former owners and lessees of their vehicles to address problems with airbags manufactured by the Takata Corporation. Takata airbags have been linked with defective inflators and have allegedly resulted in the introduction of flying debris into the cabin at time of deployment. Takata Corporation has admitted to deceiving automakers about the quality of the airbags and providing misleading testing reports to auto manufacturers.
Under the settlement automakers will begin new outreach campaigns to owners of affected vehicles in an attempt to hasten the completion of required repairs. To date Toyota has completed the largest number of recall repairs with an estimated 32% of affected vehicles being repaired, while BMW has completed only 16% of the required recall repair work.
The settlement is separate from other lawsuits regarding personal injuries that have resulted from the use of the airbags that have exploded, spraying shrapnel at passengers on deployment. The airbags have been linked to at least 16 deaths.
Litigation is continuing against Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co., and Nissan Motor Co. who are not part of the settlement agreement.
If you or someone you know owns one of the vehicles affected by the recall, contact your manufacturer today. And if you or someone you love has been injured as a result of one of the Takata airbags call the Alexander Law Group, LLC at 888.777.1776 right now, for a free, confidential, and personal consultation with one of our attorneys, or contact us online.
