Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
After denying fault for more than a decade, a Japanese company that makes airbags used in a variety of auto brands now admits its products are defective.
That's triggered what appears to be the largest product recall in the history of product recalls.
The device that inflates the airbag on impact can explode, sending shards of metal into the passenger compartment. Six deaths and scores of injuries have been linked to the defect.
Those errant bags are in at least 34 million cars in the U.S., and can be replaced free of charge under recall regulations.
Here's how you find out if your car has the bad bags:
Find a copy of your vehicles VIN number. This is a 17-digit code. You can find it on your auto registration, and on your car itself. It's usually on the driver's side of the dash board. Stand outside the car and look through the windshield. If it's not there, it's probably on the inside post of the driver's side door.
Once you have the number, enter it here, at safercar.gov
If your car is on the list, contact a dealer or your manufacturer. Official advice is to get it fixed quickly. But because of the massive recall, it's likely you will have to wait weeks, or even months before parts are available to replace your airbags.