Your car’s airbag might be a recall from over 10 years ago
May 31, 2024, 5:00 AM | Updated: Nov 22, 2024, 9:28 am
An airbag recall from 14 years ago could haunt you. KIRO Newsradio spoke with CarFax about what to do if your car is on the list. (File photo: Charles Krupa, AP)
(File photo: Charles Krupa, AP)
SEATTLE — An airbag recall from 14 years ago could haunt you if you didn’t get it swapped out.
CarFax’s Patrick Olsen told KIRO Newsradio over six million cars in the United States still have the Takata Airbag installed.
“There are 133,000 in Washington State and more than 76,000 in the Seattle Tacoma area,” he said.
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Olsen told us the Takata airbag killed 27 people in the U.S. and almost 400 people have been injured.
“That is an incredible number,” he said. “And frankly, we were alarmed to see it (the recall) was still quite so high. We figured after 10 years, we check in and see what kind of progress has been made.”
Olsen said even though the number of people who’ve been hurt or killed is low, the risk keeps growing.
“The longer these airbags stay in the car, now we’re talking about their second, third, fourth owner. So it can be difficult to track those owners down,” he said.
Local coverage: Do-not-drive warnings issued for older Nissan cars with Takata airbag inflators
What’s the issue with recalled airbags?
Olsen said the danger is cumulative.
“The issue is now for some of these cars, these airbags have been in there for 20 years, getting moisture into those chemicals getting heat and humidity applied to it,” he said.
Read the full story and more from Micki Gamez on mynorthwest.com.
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