Feds Warn Consumers to Check for Recalls After Faulty Takata Inflator Claims Another Life

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed Thursday another death linked to the ongoing Takata airbag recall crisis and issued an urgent notice to all drivers to check for airbag-related recalls.

Related: Is Your Car Part of the Takata Airbag Recall?

Latest Notice Comes as Many Ignore Warnings

NHTSA’s latest notice comes after confirmation that the driver of a 2006 Ford Ranger died in a crash due to a faulty driver-side airbag inflator that ruptured. The Ranger was already under a “no-drive order” issued in February 2018, but the owner either ignored the order or didn’t know about it. Takata’s faulty inflators can degrade after long-term humidity exposure and inflate with too much force during an airbag deployment, sending metal fragments into the vehicle’s cabin. The defect has been linked to more than 20 deaths in the U.S., and at least 67 million inflators have been recalled in tens of millions of vehicles.

The incident highlights a troubling trend of customers either not checking their vehicles for recalls or ignoring correspondence from automakers.

How to Know if the Takata Recall Affects You

In addition to yesterday’s notice, NHTSA also shared tips on how customers can check their vehicle for Takata-related recalls:

• Use NHTSA’s Recalls Lookup Tool to check your vehicle identification number for any open safety recalls.
• Download the SaferCar app to have it check for you.
• Sign up for email alerts to be notified of future recalls for your vehicle.

If your vehicle is part of a Takata-related recall, NHTSA urges you to make an appointment with your local dealership to schedule a free repair while also following any warnings from the manufacturer.

More From Cars.com:

• Get Takata Recalls on 2006 Ford Ranger, Mazda B-Series Fixed Now: NHTSA
• What Owners Should Know About Ford’s Latest Takata Recall
• Ford to Recall 2.7 Million Vehicles for Takata Airbag Inflators: What Owners Need to Know
• Is the Cab, Uber or Lyft You’re Getting Into Unsafe?
• My Car Is Recalled, But There’s No Fix Yet: What Do I Do?

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