The federal government has announced the compulsory recall of more than 2 million vehicles after faulty Takata airbags caused dozens of deaths worldwide, including one in Australia.
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Drivers can check if their vehicle has been recalled on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s [ACCC] Product Safety Australia website.
The ACCC has an extensive guide for consumers affected by the recall. The main points include:
- Drivers are urged to check if their vehicle has been recalled, and to call the manufacturer to arrange a replacement airbag as soon as possible.
- A subset of airbags called Alpha are the most dangerous, and their replacement is a priority.
- Vehicles with the Alpha airbags are under "active recall", meaning drivers should urgently contact the manufacturer to have the airbag replaced immediately.
- Other vehicles will be recalled on a rolling basis depending on the level of safety risk.
- If you had your airbag replaced under the voluntary recall process, you may need to have it checked again as some manufacturers replaced old Takata airbags with new ones, which only delays the risk of explosion.
- The replacements are carried out for free, and a loan car is to be provided in certain circumstances, like if the supplier requires you to leave your car for more than 24 hours.
- Suppliers of vehicles with defective Takata airbags have to replace them in all affected Australian vehicles by December 31, 2020. If that seems like a long time to be driving with a potentially lethal airbag, that's just the deadline. Many major suppliers say they have the replacement parts, and repairs should take less than four hours.
- Most manufacturers say they have already sent out letters to owners of recalled models.
Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Michael Sukkar said the recall of 2.3 million vehicles was the “largest and most significant recall in the nation’s history”.
"The compulsory recall will force manufacturers, dealers, importers and other suppliers to ensure that all dangerous Takata airbags are located and replaced as quickly as possible," Mr Sukkar said.
The assistant minister said that 4 million Australian cars in total had been affected by the defective airbags, or about two in seven cars on the road.
"Tragically there's been one death and one case of serious injury in Australia as a result of the deployment of these airbags, and the government just doesn't want to see anymore," he said.
About 2.7 million vehicles have been recalled voluntarily, and 1.7 million had their airbags replaced.
Wednesday's compulsory recall of 2.3 million includes the 1 million vehicles that did not have their airbags voluntarily replaced, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said at the press conference."All must be replaced by the end of 2020," he said.
Mr Sims said the decision to recall 2.3 million vehicles was not something “done lightly", and it would be closely monitored by the ACCC.
With AAP
