Car manufacturers have successfully recalled 99.9 per cent of the more than three million vehicles affected by deadly Takata airbags, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Deputy Chair of the ACCC, Delia Rickard said the Commission was pleased to see such a high completion rate in what was the biggest vehicle recall in Australian history.
“Over three million vehicles were originally affected and to have it just shy of 100 per cent complete makes this a great success in terms of numbers compared with other recalls,” Ms Rickard said.
“However, there are still some vehicles in the community that may still have deadly airbags,” she said.
“In particular, around 312,000 vehicles have been deemed to be compliant with the recall although they have not had their airbags replaced.”
Ms Rickard said this category covered vehicles which were scrapped, stolen, unregistered for more than two years, or where consumers didn’t respond or weren’t contactable after repeated tries through different channels.
“Globally, these Takata airbags have been associated with over 350 serious injuries and 33 deaths,” she said.
“If you have an affected vehicle and have not yet had your airbag replaced, please contact your vehicle manufacturer urgently to arrange for a free replacement,” she said.
Ms Rickard said State and Territory registration sanctions applied to vehicles that hadn’t had the faulty airbags replaced.
“The ACCC is also working with State and Territory registration authorities to ensure deregistered vehicles are not re-registered without confirmation that the airbag has been replaced,” she said.
Further information on the recall, including how to find out if a specific vehicle is affected, can be accessed at this PS News link.
