Honda confirms 17th U.S. death in Takata airbag rupture

WASHINGTON — Honda Motor Co. reported on Saturday it has confirmed a 17th U.S. loss of life tied to a defective airbag inflator produced by now-defunct Japanese protection products and solutions provider Takata Corp.

Honda reported that just after a joint inspection with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Security Administration, it confirmed a defective airbag inflator was to blame for the Aug. twenty crash of a 2002 Honda Civic that led to the loss of life of a driver in Mesa, Ariz.

The defect, which can direct to airbag inflators rupturing and sending steel fragments traveling, prompted the major automotive remember in U.S. background and is tied to fifteen U.S. deaths in Honda autos and two in Ford Motor Co. autos considering that 2009. A lot more than 290 accidents are also tied to defective Takata inflators and at minimum 26 deaths all over the world.

Honda reported the 2002 Civic had been beneath remember considering that December 2011 for alternative of the driver’s frontal airbag inflator, though the passenger’s frontal airbag inflator was recalled in 2014.