A press release issued by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) in July 2018, called the Takata airbag recall the “largest and most complex vehicle recall in U.S. history.” That was a year and a half ago and already three years into a series of rolling recalls that continue to this day, involving dozens of automakers and tens of millions of vehicles. In January 2020, a million and a half Toyota, Acura and Isuzu vehicles joined the ranks of the Takata airbag recall, and a similar number of Audi, BMW, Honda, Mitsubishi and Toyota models were added the month before. What's going on with these recalls, when will they stop, and what can you do if a defective airbag causes injury to you or your family?

Manufacturing defects turned airbags into ticking time bombs of metal shrapnel

Airbags have been required in all new passenger vehicles since 1999. When sensors in the vehicle detect an impact, the airbag system ignites propellant which instantaneously inflates the airbag and keeps the driver or passenger from striking the interior of the car. This propellant is filled inside of a metal cartridge. Unfortunately, manufacturers defectively loaded millions of these cartridges with an ammonium nitrate-based propellant that degrades over the years. In time, high heat and humidity react with the propellant inside the cartridge to break down the integrity of the cartridge itself. The consequence of this breakdown is that when the propellant ignites, the cartridge itself explodes, sending metal shards flying throughout the vehicle's interior. These deadly projectiles can cause injuries far worse than the vehicle occupants might otherwise receive, especially in a relatively minor crash. Airbags can deploy on an impact at speeds as low as 16 miles per hour, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. When passengers are unbelted, airbags deploy at speeds as low as ten mph.

The fact that the critical part in question – the metal cartridge housing the propellant – degrades over time, explains the ongoing nature of the recalls and why we continue to see them today. Carmakers and the NHTSA determined at first to recall the vehicles at greatest danger of malfunctioning – such as regions of the U.S. with the highest heat and humidity - and work their way from there. Most recalls, such as this latest one in January, cover vehicles with model years in the early 2000s, although some recalled models are as late as 2017.

Some of the vehicles that were recalled were not repaired properly and had to be recalled again. Initial fixes involved replacing the degraded inflators with new inflators, but of course, nothing would stop these new inflators from degrading as well. These were temporary measures only, requiring another round of recalls and replacements. These days, the propellant is mixed with a chemical drying agent to prevent cartridge degradation in hot, humid environments. Some inflators don't use an ammonium nitrate-based propellant at all.

Although this latest recall may be the last in the original planned series from 2015, it may still not be the end of airbag recalls. NHTSA issued a recall of 1.4 million vehicles in December 2019 for defective airbags, but these airbags were defective for a different reason. These so-called non-azide driver inflators (NADI) are thought to be improperly sealed, which could let damaging moisture in. These inflators could also explode, but they could also underinflate or deploy with less force than necessary to protect vehicle occupants in a crash. This recall affects certain Audi, BMW, Honda, Mitsubishi and Toyota vehicles in 1995-1999 model years.

How do you know if your vehicle is subject to an open recall or not?

The surest way to know is to visit www.NHTSA.gov/recall and input your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) into the search box. In theory, you should receive a notice in the mail from the manufacturer whenever a recall is issued on your vehicle. But the manufacturer's information about you is tied to your DMV registration. If you've moved since you last registered your vehicle and haven't updated your address with the DMV, then you might not get the notice in a timely fashion, or at all. Buying a used vehicle that was switched hands more than once can also lead to glitches in the system and delay or derail a recall notice getting to you.