Thousands of Americans are still driving cars with about a 50 percent chance of an airbag exploding and sending shrapnel into their faces if they get into even a minor accident. It may sound dramatic, but according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), testing has shown that, in a large number of 2001?2003 Honda and Acura models, the Takata airbags’ PSDI “Alpha” inflators, if triggered, have a one in two chance of “explod[ing] like a grenade.”
Affected vehicles, which NHTSA and Honda are calling “Alpha cars,” include the 2001?2002 Accord and Civic, the 2002 Honda CR-V and Odyssey, the 2002?2003 Acura 3.2TL, the 2003 Acura 3.2CL, and the 2003 Honda Pilot. As of last week, there are about 137,000 Alpha Hondas that still need repair, Honda spokesman Chris Martin told Car and Driver. Martin said about 100,000 of those vehicles are believed to be still on the road. These cars make up a small percentage of the 34 million vehicles affected by the unprecedented Takata airbag recall. NHTSA has advised owners of non-Alpha cars and trucks to continue driving them with the airbags activated until a repair is ready, because in most vehicles it is more likely that the inflator will not rupture and the car or truck is safer with the airbags functioning as intended.
To reach the owners of the Alpha vehicles and millions more affected by the recall, Honda is using Facebook’s Custom Audience tool. The automaker is...