Photo: Ford
July 10th of 2017 is when Takata filed a defect information report with the NHTSA. The submitted document refers to an issue with the driver-side airbag inflators supplied to three automakers, including the Ford Motor Company. Since then, the Blue Oval has repeatedly avoided the recall of three million vehicles by petitioning the safety watchdogs.
Fed up with the Dearborn-based automaker's reluctance to take responsibility, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ordered “a proposed schedule for the notification of vehicle owners and the launch of a remedy” in 30 days’ time. In other words, the bean counters at Ford and high-ranking execs will disappoint shareholders once again with falling stock prices.
The order issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also highlights how many people died because of Takata's mess-up thus far, namely 18 people in the United States alone. Add more than 400 injuries to the mix, and you’ll understand why these airbags are very dangerous.
Care to guess why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally had enough of Ford circumventing this problem through petitions?
“Given the severity of the consequence of propellant degradation in these airbag inflators - the rupture of the inflator and metal shrapnel sprayed at vehicle occupants - a finding of inconsequentiality to safety demands extraordinarily robust and persuasive evidence. What Ford presents here, while valuable and informative, suffers from far too many shortcomings.”
Adding insult to injury, the most recent fatality involving previously-recalled Ranger pickup trucks occurred in 2017 when Takata informed the NHTSA about these deadly inflators. As such, I think we can all agree that a hard stance on FoMoCo is the best stance the federal agency can take.
Vehicles involved in the upcoming recall include the 2007 to 2011 Ranger, 2006 to 2012 Fusion, the Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ, 2006 to 2011 Mercury Milan, 2007 to 2010 Edge, as well as the Lincoln MKX. Taken together, the NHTSA estimates the population of affected vehicles at 3.04 million.
The order issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also highlights how many people died because of Takata's mess-up thus far, namely 18 people in the United States alone. Add more than 400 injuries to the mix, and you’ll understand why these airbags are very dangerous.
Care to guess why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally had enough of Ford circumventing this problem through petitions?
“Given the severity of the consequence of propellant degradation in these airbag inflators - the rupture of the inflator and metal shrapnel sprayed at vehicle occupants - a finding of inconsequentiality to safety demands extraordinarily robust and persuasive evidence. What Ford presents here, while valuable and informative, suffers from far too many shortcomings.”
Adding insult to injury, the most recent fatality involving previously-recalled Ranger pickup trucks occurred in 2017 when Takata informed the NHTSA about these deadly inflators. As such, I think we can all agree that a hard stance on FoMoCo is the best stance the federal agency can take.
Vehicles involved in the upcoming recall include the 2007 to 2011 Ranger, 2006 to 2012 Fusion, the Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ, 2006 to 2011 Mercury Milan, 2007 to 2010 Edge, as well as the Lincoln MKX. Taken together, the NHTSA estimates the population of affected vehicles at 3.04 million.
Google News