Automakers Are Still Installing Airbags We've Known For Years to Be Dangerous

As early as 2013, some automakers were recalling cars equipped with Takata airbags that could deploy improperly. The recall went national in late 2014. By the middle of last year, it was the largest auto recall in history – and that was before regulators more than doubled the scope of the recall last month.

So why are automakers still selling new cars, fresh off the assembly line, equipped with dangerous airbags subject to recall? And why, when you bring your car in for the recall, are those manufacturers replacing your old defective airbag with a new one of the same kind?

The top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, Bill Nelson of Florida, has been investigating compliance in the airbag recall for more than a year, and he released his troubling findings on Wednesday.

Most automakers are still selling some cars with the defective ammonium-nitrate Takata airbags, and four -- Fiat Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Volkswagen – are reportedly still installing the same airbags in new cars, according Nelson's report, even though they will be subject to recall by the end of 2018. It’s still legal, since the recall isn’t complete yet, but Nelson says it “troubling” that people are unwittingly buying new cars outfitted with dangerous equipment that they'll soon have to replace.

According to Nelson, ruptures of these airbags are responsible for more than 100 injuries in the U.S. and at least 13 deaths worldwide.

Takata’s ammonium-nitrate airbags can deploy with such force that the airbag inflator’s casing ruptures, shooting metal shrapnel at the person the airbag was deployed to protect. These airbags lack an agent that dries the propellant and stabilizes the mechanism. The problem is worse in humid climates, and the recall has been implemented in phases, with priority given to hot and humid parts of the country.

Some of the new cars still being outfitted with the dangerous airbag inflators include the 2016-2017 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, 2016 Volkswagen CC, 2016 Audi TT, and 2017 Audi R8. Toyota “did not provide the model and year of their new vehicles” with the problematic airbag inflators but did say they’d be putting them into “approximately 175,000 vehicles” between March 2016 and July 2017.

Another concern for Nelson: Some of the airbag parts subject to the recall are being replaced with the same parts, which will eventually be subject to the same recall. Of the nearly 4.7 million inflators replaced, 2.1 million were replaced with similar parts. Federal regulators see this as a "temporary remedy" to get old airbags out of cars, since the older they are, the more dangerous they are. That replacement part will have to be replaced by Dec. 31, 2019, according to Nelson.

Also, recall compliance rates have been low to begin with. Almost 40 percent of Hondas in high-humidity areas have been brought in for the recall – and that’s by far the highest rate of compliance of any automaker. The number drops to an astonishing 0.04 percent for Daimler vans.

The New York Times has sought comment from the automakers in response to Nelson's report. Representatives from Toyota and Volkswagen said they were preparing responses, Subaru referred questions to Takata, and others did not immediately respond to the Times' requests.

If you’re not sure whether your car is subject to the recall, you can check here.