The car and truck crash attorneys at Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima take tremendous pride in helping and guiding our clients through what is often the most difficult experience in their lives. If you or a friend or loved one are injured in a car or truck accident, we will work tirelessly to protect your rights and do everything we can to see that you receive full and fair compensation.
In general, by the time an individual or family hires us to represent them, the damage has been done. The wreck has happened, the injury has been inflicted, and we step in to help pick up the pieces after the fact. Sadly, we don’t often get the opportunity to prevent a crash or injury in the first place, so when a chance to do so arises, we do so happily and enthusiastically.
Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published an urgent notice about a tragic death caused by a defective airbag. The victim was driving a 2002 Honda Accord when their Takata-brand side airbag inflator ruptured suddenly and unexpectedly, for no apparent reason. Takata has a long history of airbag defects and has been subject to countless lawsuits arising from their deadly products. This most recent incident is the fourth Takata-airbag-related fatality in the US in 2022, and the 23rd such fatality overall.
Because Takata has supplied airbags to multiple vehicle manufacturers, not just Hondas, NHTSA advises ALL vehicle owners to check and see whether their vehicle is subject to a recall for a potentially defective Takata airbag, using NHTSA’s Recalls Lookup Tool, which can be found here. The process is simple. You just type in your vehicle’s unique 17-digit number, and the NHTSA database immediately lets you know if your vehicle is subject to a recall. The beauty of the Recalls Lookup Tool is that it lets you know about any unrepaired safety recall associated with your vehicle, not just the airbag. You can find your VIN on your insurance card, your vehicle registration, or mounted just below the front windshield inside the car.
We strongly advise that you take just a few short seconds to run your vehicle’s VIN through the NHTSA Recalls Lookup Tool. It could literally be a life-saving decision. For more information about the Takata airbag recall, or NHTSA in general, follow this link.