New
Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
MEDIA RELEASE
MVC URGES CERTAIN HONDA AND ACURA OWNERS TO CHECK SAFERCAR.GOV FOR POTENTIALLY LIFE-SAVING SAFETY
RECALL INFORMATION
Tests of Takata airbags in certain models from 2001 to 2003 show a 50 percent chance of ruptures during
air bag deployment
(TRENTON) - The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) is strongly urging owners of certain 2001 to 2003 Honda and Acura models to check SaferCar.gov immediately for important safety recall information related to Takata airbags. The vehicles are part of a larger, 70 million vehicle recall effort related to faulty airbags. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates there are about 300,000 vehicles nationwide that are still on the road that have not been repaired. Tests on these vehicles found up to a 50 percent chance of a dangerous air bag inflator rupture during deployment.
“NHTSA has confirmed 11 fatalities and more than 100 injuries in the U.S. that were related to ruptures of Takata air bag inflators,” said MVC Chairman and Chief Administrator Raymond P. Martinez. “We are urging anyone who has yet to complete this recall to stop driving these vehicles immediately, unless they are going to a dealer for a repair.”
According to NHTSA, the higher-risk inflators are in the following 2001-2003 Honda and Acura vehicles:
The air bag inflators in these particular vehicles contain a manufacturing defect that greatly increases the potential for dangerous rupture when a crash causes the air bag to deploy. Time, humidity and fluctuating temperatures degrade the ammonium nitrate propellant in the inflators. The degradation