Japanese airbag manufacturer has been having the worst time in recent months as the company faces recall after recall of faulty airbags from almost all its clients and amidst all this chaos Canadian drivers have launched three class-action lawsuits against the company over defective airbags.
Takata is one of the major airbag suppliers across the globe with almost every car manufacturer sourcing airbags for their various models. Almost all its clients including Acura, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge/Ram, Ford, Honda, Infiniti, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Pontiac, Subaru and Toyota have issues global recalls of their cars fitted with faulty airbags and according to reports at least five people have died because of faulty airbags manufactured by takata.
According to reports, at least three law firms have already filed class-action lawsuits against Takata in Canada and at least one other firm is looking to file a case. One of the companies that has already filed a lawsuit is the Merchant Law Group LLP.
“Merchant Law Group LLP has launched class action litigation in respect of approximately 400,000 vehicles in Canada equipped with airbags manufactured by Takata Corporation”, reads the description of the lawsuit on the law firm’s site. “In the event of an accident, these defective airbags may rupture on deployment, shooting metal and plastic shrapnel into their vehicle causing serious injury.”
The company has revealed that it is seeking compensation in tune of Can$2.4 billion (US$1.9 billion) for personal injuries, car repairs and an expected loss in value of their vehicles included in a massive global safety recall,
“The class actions will seek financial compensation or benefits for affected Canadians who own or lease one of the defective vehicles in question”, notes the lawfirm.
If the three class-action lawsuits which have already been filed and any new ones that are yet to be filed are certified by a judge, they would likely be lumped into a single class action lawsuit over the course of next few months.
According to latest statistics, as many as 20 million vehicles have already been recalled due to the risk to life of passengers arising out of faulty Takata-made airbags. The airbags could deploy with excessive explosive power, spraying potentially fatal shrapnel into the vehicle, the defect description reads.
I’m surprised that anyone can make an airbag wrongly. My car developed a fault on the airbag system a while ago and we had to dismantle it. At first I was a bit wary as I’d heard stories of airbags exploding in peoples faces but when I saw the basics behind how an airbag system works it’s really not that complicated. It’s a small gas cannister with holes in it sat behind the airbag connected to two wires that provide the release. When the cannister is activated the gas in the cannister releases into the bag and up it goes using a chemical reaction similar to dropping mentos in coke or snapping UV sticks. So how anyone can get it wrong I’ve no idea unless they’ve made the chemical reaction too strong.