Drivers in Saudi Arabia should be aware of the worldwide recall of Takata airbags which so far has affected 34 million cars, the largest vehicle recall in history. The airbag issues affects about 10 brands from North America, Europe and Japan.
There could be hundreds or thousands of drivers affected in Saudi Arabia but unaware of the risk of exploding airbags. If an airbag goes off during driving it could spray metal and plastic fragments that can injure drivers and front passengers.
Dealers have a responsibility to contact drivers and warn them of the risk until their cars can be modified. However, dealers and manufacturers are overwhelmed by the volume of recalls and need time to sort out the issues.as a result car owners wait for months to have their cars checked.
This problem is not confined to KSA or the Gulf but is a worldwide issue. In Britain, a million cars are affected and most recall notices have been sent out since late 2014. Progress have been slow mainly because lack of supply of replacement airbags. Yet, the average waiting time has now been reduced to 3-4 weeks.
Anxious drivers in Saudi Arabia should contact their dealer to check if their cars need recall for airbag replacement. There is a waiting time involved that can extend to several weeks. Customers should not expect a courtesy car from dealers while they wait as there is no possibility of providing that many courtesy cars to affected drivers.
The issue should not be underestimated. Faulty airbags are linked to five deaths in the US and one in Malaysia. Moisture inside the airbags caused the device that controls the explosive charge to go off spraying shrapnel inside the cars.
Takata has now worked on a much safer revised design which will be fitted in new cars. The full recall of old airbags should be completed by the end of this year.
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*Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist, based in London.
Email: [email protected]
