Honda and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced yesterday that an 11th person has died in the United States as a result of a Takata airbag inflator that ruptured improperly. Delia Robles, a 50-year-old woman, died shortly after being involved in a crash in Riverside County, California, in which a Chevrolet Colorado turned left in front of her, according to the local newspaper, the Press Enterprise. Robles’s 2001 Honda Civic was first recalled in 2008 but never had the repair performed.
According to Automotive News, Honda had mailed more than 20 recall notices to the registered owners of this particular Civic since 2008, but the vehicle was never repaired. An Associated Press report noted that Robles, the crash victim, bought the vehicle at the end of 2015. The 2001 Honda Civic is on a list of seven models with airbag inflators that are at heightened risk of rupturing improperly: the 2001?2002 Honda Accord and Civic; the 2002 Honda CR-V and Odyssey; the 2003 Honda Pilot; the 2002?2003 Acura 3.2TL; and the 2003 Acura 3.2CL. Both Honda and NHTSA are thus continuing to push for owners of remaining unrepaired vehicles to get their defective airbag inflators replaced as soon as possible, especially in hot and humid areas where the risk that airbag inflators will rupture is higher. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, for instance, sent urgent notices to affected owners, and the department has issued a call...