The death of a 50-year-old woman in Riverside County, California was caused by the Takata airbag of her 2001 Honda Civic, the U.S.government confirmed on Thursday.
This latest incident involving a defective Takata airbag brings the U.S. death toll up to 11 after the largest recall in U.S. history was announced for the faulty airbags.
Alongside the 11 confirmed deaths relating to the airbags, over 100 injuries have been reported in the United States.
Takata released the following statement: “Our heartfelt condolences go out to the driver’s family. This tragedy underscores the importance of replacing those airbag inflators that have been recalled by automakers.”
While the recall of 69 million inflators in the U.S. and over 100 million worldwide has already started, it is being rolled out in stages, starting with U.S. states where temperatures and humidity is high, leading to an increased risk of the air bags inflating with too much force, causing them to rupture and potentially injuring, or even killing, the occupant.
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