What A Ruptured Airbag Can Do To You
One family found this out the hard way, unfortunately, when a woman driver lost her life last Sunday in what would have been a minor traffic accident.
The 44-year old woman was driving a Honda City, together with her two sons and niece when her car hit the right side of another car at a junction. The collision caused the Honda City’s airbag to deploy and it is believed that a projectile may have been discharged in this instance and hit the lady driver in the chest.
This sad news comes after we highlighted Honda Malaysia’s call several times (here and here) to have owners of affected models get immediate attention to rectify the faulty Takata airbags. Pending detailed confirmation, this is likely the fourth death linked to ruptured airbags. The previous airbag-related deaths were highlighted here.
If you own a Honda, please take some time off to attend to this. We’re sure your boss will be understanding in matters of life and death. If you don’t own a Honda but know someone who does, please advise that person to see to it immediately.
Below is the news of the accident from Associated Press:
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian woman has died after the airbag in her Honda City ruptured in a minor collision, a safety official said Monday.
The incident Sunday came days after Honda Malaysia announced an additional recall of more than 145,000 vehicles to replace defective front passenger airbag inflators.
Fire and rescue official Rosdi Hainan said the steering-wheel airbag had ruptured when he arrived at the site of the accident, and the victim was bleeding from her chest.
Rosdi said the woman died a short time later.
Honda officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
There has been a massive recall involving millions of vehicles around the world because of faulty inflator and propellant devices that may deploy improperly in an accident, shooting out metal fragments that can injure or kill.
Worldwide, 11 known deaths and more than 100 injuries have been blamed on exploding Takata-made airbag inflators
In November last year, a 43-year-old pregnant Malaysian housewife was killed after a collision activated the airbag in her Honda. Honda also confirmed two other deaths that are linked to airbag issues in April and May this year.
