An urgent safety alert has been issued for thousands of motorists who could be at risk of injury and even death from faulty airbags.
Major car manufacturers, including BMW, GM Holden, Honda, Mitsubishi and Toyota, are warning that 20,000 vehicles already under recall for defective Takata airbags are now classified as “critical”.
Critical airbags are a sub-category of faulty Takata airbags that require immediate replacement because of their increased safety risk for drivers and passengers.
On Friday 4 October the ACCC urged consumers not to drive these cars at all until the airbag has been replaced.
“Cars with airbags listed as ‘critical’ should not be driven,” ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said.
“Classification as ‘critical’ means manufacturers have assessed these airbags as being particularly unsafe. A Takata airbag misdeployment can result in death or serious injury, even in a minor collision.”
Under the urgent recall, drivers are entitled to have their vehicles towed to the dealership by the manufacturer and have their airbag replaced for free.
Drivers may be entitled to a loan car during this time.
The ACCC encouraged drivers to check if their vehicle is affected even if they have checked before, and to act immediately to have it replaced if it is part of the recall.
Drivers can check whether their car is affected by visiting ismyairbagsafe.com.au and entering their state/territory and number plate, or by texting 0487 AIRBAG (247224) and following the prompts.Drivers can also visit the vehicle manufacturer’s website and enter their VIN number in the Recall Database, or contact them directly for information.
Alternatively, productsafety.gov.au lists active and future recalls.
The recall is a rolling recall, meaning more vehicles can be added to the critical category at any time, according to Ms Rickard.
As at 31 August 2019 around 3.36 million airbags (82.4 percent of total airbags supplied) have now been replaced in 2.41 million vehicles.There remains around 483,071 airbags in 425,971 vehicles still subject to the recall.
