An Update on the Takata Airbag Recall

The Takata Corp. exploding airbag saga just continues to expand like, well, an airbag. Now, it turns out Honda Motor Co., the company’s major customer (and part-owner), knew enough about the defect in the airbag inflators to request a design change in 2009, according to a Reuters exclusive report published March 24.

The Takata airbags installed in Hondas are linked to nine deaths and more than 90 injuries, federal safety officials say. Another man driving a Ford died in December from shrapnel-like wounds to the neck when the vehicle’s Takata airbag burst.

Internal memos and presentations obtained by Reuters show Honda asked Takata to make a “fail-safe” airbag inflator after one person died and four more were injured by ruptured airbags. Honda confirmed the information to Reuters.

Clearly, had Honda come forth publicly in its demand for a change seven years ago, the story might now say The End. And, it might have a happier ending with far fewer injuries and deaths. A Honda spokesman told Reuters the company did not have to notify federal regulators of its 2009 request to Takata because the redesign was to avoid “future manufacturing errors,” and not an overall design flaw in the inflators.

Though the seeds of the defective inflator are found in Takata engineering documents as early as 2000, according to news reports, Honda activated its first recall in 2008. It targeted 4,000 Accords and Civics from the 2001 model year.

In the seven years since Honda requested Takata retool its airbag inflator, 13 other carmakers issued recalls because of the component. In 2015, the National Traffic Safety Administration recalled 34 million vehicles with the inflators, the largest product recall ever. New recalls by carmakers have continued up to this month.

A Look Into NHTSA’s Recall

NHTSA’s May 2015 recall action broke a long-held record by Johnson & Johnson. In 1982, the company pulled 31 million boxes of extra-strength Tylenol after discovering seven people in the Chicago area died after taking cyanide-laced capsules.

Documents from plaintiffs’ lawsuits and news stories suggest the Japanese company knew about inflator problems and manipulated testing data to conceal them as far back as 2000. The debacle recalls the iconic Watergate question: “What did you know, and when did you know it?”

It’s becoming part of a somewhat familiar pattern woven by carmakers, auto parts makers and other consumer product makers when a problem surfaces.

What comes to pass in a defect crisis now loosely follows this pattern:

• Complaints are filed with NHTSA. Time passes.

• Plaintiffs’ lawyers notice a swell of similar stories from clients and investigate. The attorneys obtain engineering and testing data and identify the problem. Victims’ cases go to court, documents become public and media accounts show a company knew its product allegedly was defective but failed to warn consumers. In some instances, the company also falsifies safety data.

• NHTSA steps up its involvement with an engineering analysis. Congress subpoenas company executives and holds a hearing. The head of the company quits under pressure or refuses to quit under pressure. A massive recall occurs.

• Meanwhile, there are often more deaths, injuries, and press conferences.

J&J’s swift response to finding a few tainted boxes of Tylenol and alerting the public is considered the gold standard of managing a defective product crisis.

That the drug was the best-selling product for the company did not deter the recall. The drug-maker responded immediately by pulling the capsules from the shelves. Company Chairman James Burke held a press conference, gave notice to the public repeatedly and created tamper-proof packaging within a couple of months. It was the company’s bestselling product at the time. The recall cost $100 million – which translates to more than $255 million if accounting for inflation.

Analysts predicted dire financial problems for J&J. Yet after J&J quickly introduced tamper-proof packaging, the company regained most of its market share, according to news accounts. Doing the right thing, it seems, worked for J&J.

Takata Recall Debacle Mostly Fits The Pattern

Takata’s crisis includes many threads of the defect call-and-response pattern.

Momentum for stepped up NHTSA involvement and demands for corporate accountability often stems from lawsuits and news accounts. Both shed light on manufacturing practices, executives’ decisions, engineering designs and whether regulators are doing their jobs.

In February, a Takata safety specialist invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself during a civil deposition in a case brought by a woman paralyzed in a 2014 wreck, according to Bloomberg News. The victim alleges her Honda 2001 airbag inflation caused her injuries and claims Takata fraudulently withheld safety data from Honda.

Takata’s defense lawyer said faked data wasn’t an issue, nor was “whether Takata was candid with Honda,” a Bloomberg story said. The relevant legal point, the lawyer said, is what Takata knew about the individual victim’s Honda, according to the news report. The company says the airbag inflator was fine and was not the cause of the victim’s paralysis, he said.

Emails from a personal injury lawsuit obtained by the New York Times show officials planned to misrepresent testing data to conceal defects. A 2002 internal report mentioned “detailed discrepancies in airbag test results,” the Times said.

Though NHTSA continues to supervise further recalls, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, is pressuring the agency to crack down on Takata. He told the agency’s top official to remove all Takata airbags with ammonium nitrate – about 90 million, according to Autonews.com. At present, Takata has until 2019 to remove the ammonium nitrate airbags unless they are proved to be safe, according to news accounts.

Takata Chief Executive Officer Shigehisa Takada, the company founder’s grandson, is not resigning, the company says. Johnson & Johnson’s Burke, who pulled his most profitable product from the market quickly for the public good, stayed on and presided over a significant market expansion until his retirement in 1987.

If you are interested in reading the full Reuters report, you can read it online. You can also see the updated list of recalls on NHTSA to see if your vehicle is on the recall list.

Safety Information

Airbags come with risks but save lives. Children are a vulnerable population. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends never putting a child under 13 in the front seat. Make sure younger children are properly belted in the back. Never put a car seat, even rear-facing, in the front seat.

For more details on child passenger safety, read this informative post on Healthy Children’s website.

For more information on the Takata recall, please see our other blog postings:

• UPDATE: 8 Fatalities From Exploding Takata Airbags
• Airbag Safety and Important Information on the Takata Airbag Recall
• Takata Airbag Recall is Largest in US History

Harris Lowry Manton has decades of experience and hundreds of successful outcomes in product defect cases. If you or someone close to you needs legal assistance, we can help. Call us toll-free at 404-961-7650 or fill out our online contact form.