The subject of Takata airbags has been in the news often lately. There are still too many older vehicles left on the road equipped with these defective airbags and the longer owners continue to use them, the more they put their lives at risk.
There's no other way to put it.
Just this morning, Stellantis stepped in to implore owners of older Dodge and Chrysler models equipped with Takata airbags to park their vehicles until the recall repair is completed. They're not being asked to be careful, but to stop using their ride. The reason? The company confirmed a third fatality last Friday, six weeks after a similar notice following two fatal accidents involving defective units.
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The models affected are the Dodge Charger, Magnum and Challenger from 2005 to 2010, as well as the Chrysler 300 from the same years. The company is warning customers who have not yet had their vehicles inspected in accordance with previous recall campaigns to park their vehicles until they can do so. This order affects more than 275,000 units that are still on the road.
No new recall campaigns were, as all affected vehicles were included in the massive 2015 campaigns conducted by virtually every major automaker. Airbag inflators from industrial supplier Takata have been identified as the cause of 34 deaths. When moisture causes the units to explode rather than normally deploy in a crash, metal pieces are thrown in the cabin, including the driver's face.
Tom McCarthy, Stellantis' global manager of technical safety and regulatory compliance, had this to say to owners, among other things:
"Time is critical here because the risk increases with each day these airbag inflators are not replaced. We have the parts, and the service is free. We will provide transportation alternatives, also free, to help people get to and from our dealerships, if necessary."
The saddest part of the latest fatality is that the owner of the car involved in his death had contacted the manufacturer in 2018 to schedule a repair. He then canceled and Stellantis mentions contacting him 114 times to get his vehicle repaired. In the end, the faulty airbag was the cause of his death.
If you own one of the models mentioned, find out immediately if the airbags in your vehicle have been replaced.