GM Forced to Recall Nearly 6M Vehicles with Takata Airbags

General Motors must recall and repair nearly 6 million pickup trucks and SUVs which have potentially dangerous Takata airbag inflators, according to an announcement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The NHTSA denied GM’s petition to avoid the safety agency’s previous Takata airbag recalls. These recalls are the largest and most complex vehicle recalls in U.S. history, involving 19 vehicle manufacturers and over 60 million Takata airbag inflators in tens of millions of vehicles in the United States alone. 

The recalls are due to a design defect in the Takata airbag. Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate as a propellant to create a small explosion to fill airbags in a crash. The propellant, however, deteriorates after long-term exposure to heat and humidity. This can cause the airbag to over-pressurize and rupture, causing shrapnel to penetrate the airbag and enter the vehicle.

The NHTSA says that, to date, these rupturing Takata inflators have resulted in 18 deaths across the United States and hundreds of injuries, including lacerations and other serious consequences to occupants’ face, neck, and chest areas. 

The NHTSA analyzed engineering and statistical analyses, aging tests, and field data on the airbags before arriving at a decision to recall.

“Based on this information and information provided to the petition’s public docket, NHTSA concluded that the GM inflators in question are at risk of the same type of explosion after long-term exposure to high heat and humidity as other recalled Takata inflators,” the agency said in a prepared statement to the media.

GM has 30 days to give NHTSA a proposed schedule for notifying vehicle owners and starting the recall.

You can check to see if your vehicle has been recalled by going to the NHTSA’s website and keying in your 17-digit vehicle identification number.

Contact Morgan & Morgan

At Morgan & Morgan, our attorneys are currently filing lawsuits on behalf of individuals injured by Takata’s defective airbags. If you were injured in a crash, you may not even realize your injuries were caused by Takata’s airbags. If your airbag deployed and you sustained cuts or lacerations, you can hold the company allegedly responsible for your injuries accountable. 

During a free case review, we will explain your legal options and help you decide the best course of action. Because we operate on a contingency-fee, there are no upfront costs or hourly fees. We only get paid if we win for you.

When you hire Morgan & Morgan, we will fight for full and fair compensation. With more than 1,000 attorneys, we have the resources to take on the biggest bullies in America, and we have a proven track record with over $20 billion recovered for our clients