Japanese automaker Honda has expanded its U.S. recall of cars due to issues arising from the faulty airbags supplied by Takata Corp.
In June, Honda recalled some of its cars in North America due to problems arising from the defective airbags. On June 25, the company came to know about an accident, which involved a 2005 Accord that took place in California in May this year.
According to a complaint files to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Security Administration (NHTSA), the airbag in the 2005 model Honda Accord exploded after a low speed collision. The airbag shot out plastic and sharp metal particles that caused severe burns to the legs and arms of the driver.
Hot and humid weather conditions in some regions on the U.S. are believed to be responsible for the explosion of airbags unexpectedly. Previously, Honda recalled cars only in some markets but now the automaker has expanded the recall to more regions.
"Honda is working in cooperation with the manufacturer of the airbag inflators and NHTSA to recall certain vehicles in 10 U.S. states and territories (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) based on the high absolute humidity levels common to those areas. While the states and territories in which Honda is conducting these actions are broader than those suggested by the manufacturer of the airbag inflators (Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands), Honda has chosen to expand the affected area for these market actions because of similar environmental conditions in those areas," per a statement issued by Honda.
The automaker has not confirmed the specific number of vehicles that are affected by the recall but the company estimates that the total recall will include over two million cars in the U.S.
The Honda vehicles that are affected by the recall are 2001 to 2007 model year Accord, 2001 to 2005 model year Civic and 2002 to 2006 model year CR-V.
Honda is not the only carmaker, which is affected by faulty airbags provided by Japanese component supplier Takata Corp. Other companies such as Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler and more are also affected by defective airbags that explode inadvertently.
However, Honda is Takata's biggest customer and since 2008 Honda has already recalled more than six million vehicles due to issues arising from faulty airbags supplied by Takata. Japanese car makers, which include Toyota, Honda and Nissan have recalled over five million cars in June this year just because of faulty airbags.
Takata has also offered its assistance to carmakers to replace the faulty airbags.
