Malaysian Honda owners with the need to replace their airbags and have not done so need to take this issue seriously. Honda Motor America has just confirmed that there has been another death due to faulty Takata airbag inflators. The incident however did not happen during an accident and instead it happened the vehicle was being repaired at a car workshop.
It seems that a mechanice was performing an unknown repair inside a 2001 Honda Accord last year when the airbag deployed. Apparently, the ignition switch was on and the person in question had the Accord’s center console disassembled. The person was also using a hammer, which according to Honda is what triggered the airbag.
Despite the confirmation from Honda, the automaker does cast some doubt as to the specific cause of the fatal injuries. In the report, the automaker says police photos show the exploded inflator and metal fragments. Honda also is quoted as saying it was “difficult to determine whether the cause of death in this incident was the inflator rupture, or an interaction of the hammer with the deploying air bag.”
