At our blog, we often discuss recall campaigns that impact vehicles owned by a great number of consumers in America. Unfortunately, many of these recalls we report on are only issued after people are injured.
That’s the case with the Takata air bag recalls that have been popping up since 2013.
Takata air bags fitted with inflators that may explode have been fitted in millions of vehicles nationwide. After reports of deadly and serious crashes hit the news, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pressured Takata to launch nationwide recalls. Instead, the company focused on working with automakers to recall impacted vehicles regionally. The company claimed that only states where vehicles would be exposed to high levels of humidity and heat should be impacted by the recalls. But over time, the parts maker changed its tune, and nationwide recall campaigns were launched.
The last two recall campaigns to be launched with the help of the NHTSA involve Volkswagen and Mazda vehicles that were fitted with the air bag inflators that may explode in the event of a crash.
Volkswagen has listed the 2015 Audi Q5 and the Volkswagen Tiguan vehicles in its latest recall announcement. In all impacted vehicles, the air bag inflators may rupture and explode while in use. If that occurs in a crash, the driver or other occupants may be hit by a flying metal fragment, increasing the risk of a deadly injury.
Volkswagen has announced that the recalled vehicle owners will be contacted in the near future so consumers are aware of the campaign and how to have the vehicles fixed. No official notification date was chosen.
But Volkswagen is not the only company recalling vehicles over potentially deadly air bag inflators. According to the NHTSA, thousands of Mazda trucks have also been recalled over the same issue.
The report shows that the vehicles listed under this recall include the 2004 through 2006 B-Series trucks. These vehicles were manufactured between April 17, 2003 and May 2, 2006. Once the air bags deploy in the event of a crash, the inflators may explode, increasing the risk of deadly injuries.
Mazda has announced that it will start contacting impacted vehicle owners on March 25, 2016. The vehicles should be inspected and fixed entirely for free.
If you have one of the vehicles recalled by either Volkswagen or Mazda, contact the manufacturers for more details on how to have this issue addressed.
