Consumers enjoy a number of protections from automotive defects. The Takata airbag recall has already included 23 million airbags, however, regulators recently indicated that the airbag recall could potentially grow larger. The Takata airbag recall is currently considered the largest United States auto recall in automotive history. The recall has already impacted nearly 20 million vehicles. The recall, which includes 11 car makers currently, is expected to expand.
Seven additional car makers, including Tesla Motors, Mercedes-Benz and others may be included in the new recalls if their vehicles are equipped with the defective airbags. The faulty airbag inflators, which explode in some circumstances, have been associated with eight deaths. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent letters to several car makers to collect information concerning which vehicles may have the faulty inflators.
Automotive recalls are serious because auto defects can lead to serious harm, including death. To protect the public different resources and options are available to victims who have been harmed by an automotive defect. Products liability law takes consumer safety seriously and may hold a number of parties in the supply chain liable when a victim has been injured by a defective or dangerous product such as an auto defect. Car manufacturers and retailers, as well as others, may all be considered responsible for the harm suffered by victims and liable to compensate victims for the damages suffered.
Cars are, of course, a common form of transportation and consumers have a reasonable expectation of safety from an automotive defect. Because of the serious nature of auto defects, it is important that victims who have experienced harm as the result of an auto defect are aware of the remedies available to help.
Source: Fortune, “Takata airbag recall could expand to seven more automakers,” Claire Groden, Sept, 29, 2015