Urgent warning to motorists as 18,000 more cars made between 1996 and 1999 are recalled over deadly Takata airbags
- Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki are recalling 18,000 cars built between 1996, 1999
- The small Toyota Starlet hatchback is on the recall list with deadly Takata airbag
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued the safety warning
- Faulty Takata airbags have killed 29 people, injured another 320 worldwide
- One person has died in Australia as a result of an airbag shooting metal shrapnel
Australians who drive a Japanese car built during the late 1990s are being warned about potentially deadly airbags.
Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki are recalling 18,462 imported cars between them made between 1996 and 1999.
The small Toyota Starlet hatchback dominates the list of cars fitted with a dangerous Takata airbags.
The Toyota RAV4, Celica and Paseo are also on the recall list, along with the Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV and Mazda’s luxury Eunos 800.
Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki are recalling 18,000 cars made between 1996 and 1999. The small Toyota Starlet hatchback (pictured) is on the list of cars fitted with the dangerous Takata NADI AT 5-AT airbags
Drivers of these cars are being advised to stop driving them and organise free and urgent repairs with their dealer.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s acting chairman Stephen Ridgeway said airbags fitted in these cars were potentially deadly.
‘These airbags could injure or kill people in the car by misdeploying in an accident and propelling parts or metal fragments into the cabin of the vehicle at high speed,’ he said.
‘The airbags have also, in some instances, not fully inflated in a crash, thereby failing to protect drivers as expected.’
Last year, an inquest heard Huy Neng Ngo was killed in a Honda CR-V when an airbag deployed in a ‘relatively minor’ crash at Cabramatta in Sydney’s south-west in July 2017.
The 58-year-old man’s death, caused by metal shrapnel shooting into his neck, was the first fatality attributed to faulty Takata airbags.
Two months earlier, in April 2017, a 21-year-old woman in Darwin driving a Toyota RAV4 was seriously injured in a minor collision by a Takata airbag.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s acting chairman Stephen Ridgeway said airbags fitted in these cars were potentially deadly (pictured is a Takta airbag)
‘Drivers must take these warnings seriously,’ Mr Ridgeway said.
‘These airbags pose a serious safety risk that could lead to deaths or serious injuries.
‘Please do not put lives at risk, and consider other transport options if your vehicle is affected.’
Malfunctioning airbags have been connected with 29 deaths and 320 injuries worldwide.
The global recall of cars fitted with a Takata NADI type five-AT airbags affected 78,000 cars sold in Australia by eight manufacturers.