The Daily Mail is one of those guilty pleasures you might read in the middle of the day to catch up on the latest Meghan Markle news (or not), but I’ll say one thing for it: Daily Mail headlines don’t mince words. Here’s one from a recent article: “Florida woman, 34, died because a faulty air bag ruptured and fired shrapnel into her head during a crash she should have survived, report reveals.”
The article tells the terrible story of Nichol Lynn Barker Pahlck’s death, who “was struck by metal pieces that burst through the Takata airbag, causing a 6-inch by 3-inch gaping wound to her left temple.” The blog Car Complaints writes:
The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) has confirmed that Nichol Lynn Barker Pahlck, 34, is at least the 21st person killed by a Takata airbag.
In what police describe as a minor crash, the mother of three was driving a 2002 Honda Accord in Holiday last July when a 1999 Pontiac Firebird turned in front of the Accord, causing the front of the Honda to hit the side of the Firebird.
Florida authorities say the crash was completely survivable and it was surprising the amount of damage caused to Pahlck.
According to Florida investigators, nothing in the Accord other than the Takata airbag would have caused the facial injuries and death of Pahlck in a "crash that should not have been fatal."
I wish this were the only bad airbag news but there’s more. This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced even more Takata air bag recalls, including models from 14 different automakers: Ford, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Daimler Vans, Toyota, Tesla, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Mazda, Subaru, Jaguar-Land Rover, McLaren and Volkswagen. Toyota, Ford and Honda.
And here’s a bizarre story.
Even by the standards of the Takata airbag scandal, or the criminal case and recall currently affecting 60 million cars in the United States alone, the warning that some Ford customers received last week was particularly dire.
Nearly 3,000 Ford Rangers on the road pose “an immediate risk to safety,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on January 11.
Ford added on its own website that that owners of “specific 2006 Ford Rangers” shouldn’t even drive to the dealership due to potentially explosive airbags.
“Parts are available now, and dealers are prepared to get vehicles directly from customers, make permanent repairs that will resolve the safety risk and provide a free interim loaner vehicle, if necessary,” Ford writes online.
It’s a comforting message, but one that may not be completely true. Some dealerships are saying that they don’t yet have the parts to replace airbags in the 2006 Ford Ranger, let alone a loaner vehicle for affected customers to drive while they wait.…
In a follow-up statement to ConsumerAffairs, Ford disputes the message that we received from dealerships.
However, it did get the attention of a couple U.S. Senators, who “asked the U.S. Transportation Department on Thursday to explain why a ‘do not drive’ directive issued last week by Ford Motor Co is limited to about 2,900 older pickup trucks and if other vehicles are potentially at risk from defective airbag inflators.”
Ford said both deaths in 2006 Ranger pickups occurred with inflators built on the same day. In a recall notice filed with NHTSA, Ford said data from the two incidents and an anomalous test all occurred with inflators from the same propellant production lot. The recall applies to Ford Rangers with inflators built on two days in September 2005, the company said.
In yet more bizarre airbag news, “General Motors has received a patent for an airbag on the outside of vehicles designed to ‘provide protection to a pedestrian,’ the latest iteration in an industry effort to address a growing problem that accounts for roughly one in seven U.S. traffic deaths."
“The pedestrian protection airbag could become an important engineering solution in the future,” said Tom Wilkerson, safety communications spokesman for GM.
It is not the initial impact from a vehicle that is most likely to kill pedestrians, but secondary impact when pedestrians pass over the hood and hit their heads on the heavy frame piece holding the windshield, said Maeva Ribas, manager of design analysis at The Carlab, an automotive product planning consultant.
Interestingly, GM also just “petitioned the federal government for approval to adjust 16 motor vehicle standards so it can test cars that have no steering wheel, pedals and other driver controls."
Imagine that. And they say there are no coincidences.
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