Weeks after a congressional House subcommittee held a hearing over the defective airbags produced by Takata Corporation, Honda has added 1 million more vehicles to a growing recall list. This recall is already the largest auto recall in history, and the number of vehicles affected has continued to grow.
Two weeks ago Honda had announced that it would recall about 350,000 Hondas in high humidity states. On Monday, the company announced that it would be expanding the recall to encompass the entire nation after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration demanded it do so. This will add over a million 2001-2005 Civics and 2003-2007 Accords to the recall.
Last week Honda confirmed that Kylan Langlinais, a Louisiana woman, was the 7th person killed by a defective Takata airbag. Langlinais died at a hospital just 4 days after the 2005 Accord she was driving crashed into a utility pole.
While ensuring the safety of drivers still with defective airbags has been the primary focus of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, civil penalties are not out of the question. Langlinais’ family has filed a lawsuit for her death. Takata could potentially be liable under a products liability theory for placing a defective product into the hands of its consumers, which has caused, and has continued to cause, countless injuries and several deaths.
Bahe Cook Cantley & Nefzger is currently reviewing and accepting cases of people injured by these defective airbags on a nationwide basis.
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