The largest auto recall in history prompted by Takata airbags that can explode and strike car occupants continues to put the lives of countless people at risk. According to a report from Automotive News, the defective airbags are now at the center of a lawsuit involving an accident in which the victim lost her eye.
Reports indicate that a Texas woman is suing Ford and one of its Texas dealers, alleging that they failed to repair a vehicle impacted by an airbag-related safety recall. As a result, the suit claims, the recalled Takata airbag ended up causing a woman to lose her eye.
Takata Airbag Recall Behind Deaths, Injuries
Ford is one of the several automakers impacted by the Takata airbag defect.
The American automaker recalled nearly 60,000 vehicles over Takata airbag inflators that can explode with too much force in the event of an accident, causing metal shrapnel to fly into the vehicle’s cabin.
So far, officials have registered 19 deaths and 400 injuries associated with the defective airbag system. But nearly a decade after the first recall reports were issued, millions of vehicles remain unrepaired.
Defective Airbag Exploded In A 2020 Accident
Ford’s Takata recalls impact several models including Ford Edge, Fusion, and Mustang.
According to the Texas lawsuit, the victim was the passenger of a 2007 Ford Mustang owned by her boyfriend that crashed in June, 2020.
Prior to the accident, however, the vehicle had been taken to a Richwood, Texas, dealership for repairs associated with the airbags. While the dealer should have replaced both driver and passenger airbags, the suit alleges that they didn’t.
Due to the dealer’s failure to replace the passenger airbag, the device caused shrapnel to explode from the passenger side in the crash. As a result, the passenger suffered serious injuries that resulted in the loss of her eye.
All too often, automakers will fail to properly identify and fix equipment issues that may cause serious personal injury. We hope automakers take this and any other equipment issue that arises in the future seriously to protect car owners and their passengers.
For more on this accident, follow this link.
