NHTSA reports 8th US Death linked to faulty Takata airbag inflator

One more person has died owing to a faulty airbag inflator. This is the eighth US death owing to the inflator, said the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Since April, it is the first reported death and ninth worldwide.

NHTSA has appointed John Buretta, a former official in the Justice Department's criminal division, to independently monitor Takat’s recalls. NHTSA spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said that the death happened in July in a recalled used 2001 Honda Accord coupe near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A teenager was driving the car when a Takata airbag ruptured and he died after many days.

A 13-year-old boy took the keys without the permission from his parents and drove the car. He met with an accident in early morning. Pennsylvania State Police has also confirmed that the incident taken place on July 22 involved a 13-year-old boy who was alone in the car that went off a road into a wooded area at 4.46 am in Mercer County in western Pennsylvania.

The car first hit a four-foot embankment and then struck a fallen tree. In the summary submitted by the police, there was no mentioning of the airbag. The additional recalls may include additional ‘few hundred thousand vehicles’.

The expanded recalls for passenger side inflators include the 2005-2008 Mazda6, 2003-2004 Honda CR-V and 2005-2008 Subaru Legacy and Outback. Honda has said that it is recalling additional 127,000 vehicles.

It is said that Takata’s inflators can explode with great force and spray metal shrapnel into vehicle passenger compartments. All the nine deaths have taken place in Honda vehicles. Honda said that it is working to find out the cause of the death.

Honda said that it has made latest recall on July 21. Takata affirmed that it has been working with Honda and NHTSA to find out the facts involved in the incident.