Hello everyone! If you’re a regular reader of my
blog, you know that because I see so many patients who have been in car
accidents, driver safety is a big concern of mine!
With that in mind, I wanted to draw your
attention to a huge recall announced this summer by the US Department of
Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Takata,
the company that has made the airbags in tens of millions of cars and trucks
for decades, has discovered that a number of them are defective and need to be
fixed or replaced.
How big is this recall? It’s pretty big! It
affects 34 million vehicles, about one out of every seven in the United States,
and includes cars from 11 different auto makers! That makes it the biggest
recall of all time.
Airbags are designed so that if a vehicle is
involved in a collision while moving at 30 mph or more, a propellent will
ignite, immediately deploying and inflating the airbag, and cushioning the head
and body of the driver and passenger. But there are reports that in some
vehicles the propellent that Takata used could actually send metal shrapnel
flying through the car. Yikes!
It’s important that you find out if any vehicles
you own are affected. the NHTSA is sending out letters but you don’t have to
wait. On this NHTSA webpage you can find links to
pages for most of the major automakers where you can plug in your VIN number
and see if your vehicle is affected.
If your vehicle is one of the many affected, you
should contact the manufacturer about what steps to take to service it. The
NHTSA says it is still safe to drive affected vehicles. It does not recommend
disabling the airbags yourself.
I recommend that everyone find out if your
vehicle is involved in the Takata airbag recall. I also suggest that you tell
your friends and neighbors about this. Protecting your family is so important,
and never more than during the summertime when you are most likely to be on the
road traveling!
Stay safe out there!
Yours in health,
Christopher B. Renne, D.C.
Chiropractic Physician
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