Submitted by ahm713 t3_y35ori in todayilearned
Reply to comment by ahm713 in TIL the first confirmed victim of Takata airbags was 18y/o Parham. As she drove around a car park, she lightly bumped another vehicle making the airbag inflate, sending metal pieces at such tremendous force that one hit the teen’s neck slicing open her carotid artery. She bled to death in her seat by ahm713
There wasn't a recall?!
There was a recall. That's the letter in the mail.
Pulling the number out of my ass, but even when there's a recall I think it would be a miracle if 75% of the vehicles affected actually get the issue fixed. That's how there are still millions of vehicles in the road with either this or a host of other issues.
Whenever this cones up I think of Anton yelchin:(
That one still gets me. I can't watch any of his movies without tearing up. He had so much potential. Fuck Chrysler, seriously.
Oh shit was that a vehicle defect/fault that caused the accident? I just remember hearing about it being a freak accident with his car, didn't remember hearing anything about faulty equipment/a recall.
I believe it was a poor design decision by the manufacturer on how the shifter works on that vehicle.
You should not have to look at anything to know what gear you're in.
Yep, I was going to say this but couldn't reply earlier. It's not a defect, but definitely a massive design flaw. Both my maternal and paternal grandfather worked for GMC and they strongly resisted any changes to design that gave way to aesthetics over function.
This is why gated shifters are the best
There were some stories floating around (anecdotal, so take with a grain of salt) of how the dealerships didn't want to actually do the work to replace the airbags because the payout from OEMs was break-even. So instead a lot of them took in the vehicle, and then let it sit for a few hours before returning it "fixed". If called on it, they could plead ignorance and actually do the procedure then, but almost nobody could actually call them on it because how do you even check?
This may have been true in the 90s early 2000s, but the manufacturer I work for requires pictures and verification of number swaps. And if the tech claims he did a job that he didn't do and for whatever reason another tech has to go in behind the first guy and finds the recall wasn't completed as stated. The first tech can have his number suspended and he could lose his job as well as the dealership could lose franchising rights. I only know this because one of our techs had alot of work closed under his number that later came back as incomplete. So now he is on a year long probation and has to have all warranty work signed off on by the shop foreman and service manager. I worked with a couple of old Honda techs who claim that when this recall was in its prime they were going to junk yards to replace any airbags in any totalled vehicles as well so there was no risk of problems later on. Plus the techs got paid pretty well for the work.
Happy Cake Day!
The manufacturer should have warned them: you do this, and anyone dies, it’s felony murder. Carrie’s the death penalty in a lot of states.
(I’m not 100% you could make it stick — most jurisdictions actually list the felonies that are “inherently dangerous” — but these are mechanics not lawyers.)
So scary.
They force you to in Australia. A friend of mine has an older Volvo (2004 or so), and he hasn't gotten around to having it done. He's been threatened with registration cancellation if he doesn't get it done.
I had a Mazda 6 done three damn times (and no one explained to me why). The third time I cracked the shits and insisted that they come and collect the car, and supply me with a loaner. They wouldn't collect it, but I did get a loaner for two days.
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