U.S. confirms 11th death linked to faulty Takata air bag inflator

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. safety regulators confirmed late Thursday an 11th death in the United States caused by a ruptured Takata Corp air bag inflator, the latest fatality tied to the largest ever auto safety recall.

At least 16 deaths are now linked to the defect, including five in Malaysia, that prompted the recall of nearly 100 million air bag inflators worldwide by more than a dozen automakers.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said a 50-year-old woman died after a Sept. 30 crash in Riverside County, California in a 2001 Honda Civic that was first recalled in 2008 and never repaired.

This is the first U.S. death reported from a Takata inflator since a 17-year-old high school senior died in Texas in March in a moderate speed crash. Automakers have fixed about 11.4 million inflators in the United States to date -- leaving more than 20 million unrepaired. The defective air bag inflators deploy with too much force sending metal fragments flying.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-takata-idUSKCN12K2R0

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TECHNOLOGY NEWS | Thu Oct 20, 2016 | 7:37pm EDT
By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON

[onehandle]

1. My wife's Subaru airbag replacement is still 'being developed.'

Subaru will 'be in touch' as soon as they 'have it in stock.'

[Sherman A1]

5. Same here for my

Toyota.

[jmowreader]

3. Weird aside: I publish Takata's employment ads

We haven't run one in a while, but when someone quits or gets fired we always get an insertion order. They always say they are looking for someone who wants to "be in our industry-leading safety products."

Considering how many of Takata's industry-leading safety products have wound up in their end users, I think I'd translate that a little differently.

[Mz Pip]

4. We got a recall notice

It was for the same thing but on our Toyota Sienna. We're not supposed to sit in the passenger seat until it's fixed. We were given a number to call and got someone trying to give us a Walmart gift card. It was weird. We didn't want a gift card. We just wanted to find out if and when we could get our car fixed.