Honda to Stop Using Takata Air Bags
Honda decided that it will stop using Takata air bags in new vehicles after reviewing millions of pages of internal Takata documents and determining that test data for certain air bag inflators was misrepresented or manipulated. The decision by Honda follows a $200 million fine imposed on Takata by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”). Takata agreed to pay $70 million as part of a settlement, admitting that it failed to alert the NHTSA of the defect—which has been linked to eight deaths and injuries to approximately 100 drivers—despite the company’s awareness of it. In addition to the settlement, the NHTSA announced a recall of approximately 19 million U.S. vehicles with defective air bag inflators.
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