Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Competition Commission has issued an alert to consumers within the region over the recall of 20 car brands due to faulty airbag inflators.
The competition watchdog raised the consumer alert over faulty Takata airbag inflators in different countries in the region.
Japanese manufacturer, Takata Corporation, is said to have fitted the said vehicles with faulty airbags between the years 2002 and 2015 and now is requesting consumers to return the affected vehicles in the wake of safety issues and the airbags defect that endangers the consumer.
Takata airbag inflators
According to a statement released by the commission, over 100 million Takata airbag inflators across the globe had been recalled by more than 20 car manufacturers as of January 2024, with the faulty airbags linked to 22 deaths and more than 180 known injuries.
“We therefore wish to alert consumers in our member countries of the ongoing developments regarding the Takata airbags for their information, since there is high importation of used car in the region,” the Commission said.
The commission also confirmed that most of the affected vehicles were mostly from model years 2002 and 2015.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), through a Safety Recall Notice, explained how the defectiveness of the airbags occurred.
“The Takata PSDI-5 inflator propellant may over time, create excessive internal pressure resulting in the rupture of the body of the inflator upon deployment, thereby causing metal fragments to pass through the air bag cushion material and cause injury or death to vehicle occupants,” the notice read in part.
It also explained that the ruptures could occur in some of the inflators after several years of exposure to persistent conditions of high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling, among other factors.
In May 2024, the NHTSA issued a “Do Not Drive” warning to owners of certain vehicles, including certain models of brands such as; Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Ford, BMW among others.
The Commission also established that in 2017, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan issued a statement conditioning the repair of vehicles with Takata airbags before they were presented for inspection and notified the public that about 18 people worldwide had been killed due to abnormal explosions.
Toyota went ahead to provide a website link for consumers to check which vehicles were subject to the Takata airbag recall. The NHTSA also provided a link on their website, where consumers could confirm the recall status of their cars, using the Vehicle Identification Number.
