Takata Airbags Claim ANOTHER Life - BMW Says Park Your 3 Series

A new and distinct problem has been discovered in air bags made by the now bankrupt company Takata which has led to at least one death.

The recently discovered malfunction is different than the defect that led to at least 24 deaths and hundreds of injuries worldwide, though the result, like the earlier issue, leads to air bags that can explode and hurl shrapnel, killing or injuring people.

Takata is adding about 1.4 million front driver inflators to recalls in the U.S., according to government documents posted Wednesday.

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mre30 - 12/5/2019 10:48:46 AM

-3 Boost

At what point does "defective airbags" just become "old airbags"?

My 1990 325i-C had a HUGE sticker on the drivers door jamb that said to replace the airbags in 2010 due to a hazard. I sold the vehicle before then but the warning sticker was hard to miss.

Question for spies - What new technology that people think is innocuous now, has the biggest potential to cause death and destruction in the future?

My guess will be improperly disposed of batteries in Hybrid and EV's. I will highlight that even if 99% of the 300,000 or so Teslas on the road now are properly junked and the batteries removed/recycles, that still leave 3,000 or more that have the potential to spontaneously combust if they are just abandoned. That is a huge potential for mayhem.

Thoughts?

mre30 - 12/5/2019 11:16:26 AM

-1 Boost

Hopefully they could read English and noticed the HUGE warning sticker :-)

Caveat Emptor

SV8t - 12/5/2019 12:47:14 PM

-1 Boost

Big center stacked screens that are attention magnets. Look at the new Taycan. Volume adjusting controls requires precision. That means driver eyes off the road. Crazy trend with all controls to the screens!

SanJoseDriver - 12/5/2019 10:24:25 PM

+2 Boost

Yet the accident rate is pretty low for Teslas, and even lower if using Autopilot. The big screens are way less of a distraction than texting while driving. Autopilot if anything is an antidistraction since on the highway at least, it has legit gotten to the point where it drives better than most drivers. Last week was the inflection point for me where for the first time it truly seemed ready for primetime with no lane change confirmations or hands on the wheel, it's gotten damn good. Keep an eye out for news on the upcoming version update that is very slowly rolling out (I don't have it yet)... supposedly it allows true self driving with lane changes on the highway with no lane change confirmation... still need hands on the wheel.

skytop - 12/5/2019 10:56:00 AM

-3 Boost

So you sold a BMW death-mobile to an unsuspecting buyer. Not cool at all.

Car4life1 - 12/5/2019 11:59:10 AM

-2 Boost

Let’s be honest, most of the 3 series listed on recall are parked anyway for poor reliability issues