My Vehicle is Affected by the Faulty Airbag Recalls - Need to Wait - Do I Use my Car or Not?
Sisters
Raechel and Jacqueline Houck in the US
were victims of a fatal car accident in Santa Cruz, US in 2004. The car they
were driving was a Chrysler PT Cruiser – one of the models involved in a
recall. The car rental company did not ground the models and rented out to the
sisters and apparently began leaking steering fluid and suddenly caught fire
before crashing into an oncoming semi-tractor trailer. As reported in a 2010
ABC News investigation, the car had been under a safety recall for the
potential fire hazard, but was still rented to the sisters (ABC News, July 10,
2012). The parents of these sisters were awarded USD 15 million and a new law
was drafted to ensure that car rental companies repair or ground unsafe cars if
those cars are involved in any recalls.
Fast
forward 2014 (Dec) Law Suk Leh who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant from
Sibu, died on the way to the hospital, becoming the first reported casualty
outside the US in air-bag crisis. In the US, Takata air bags, used by carmakers have been
associated with eight deaths (including Law’s) and lawsuits.
Her baby died at the hospital.
The
current spate of recalls due to faulty airbag is the largest vehicle recall in
the auto – industry history.
As
of July 10, 2015 NHTSA announced that more than 30 million vehicle across 10
brands are involved in the recalls due to faulty air bags. Most models made
between 2002 and 2008 and some 2014 models are involved in the recalls.
The
US, Europe and other countries with vehicle safety laws have issued notices
to the general public and provided a centralized database to help vehicle owners
check if their vehicle is affected by the recall – mostly using VIN
(Vehicle Identification Number).
Malaysian
car owners are not that lucky or privileged as their developed country counterparts – even though we pay more to own a vehicle!
Get
to the JPJ (Road Transport Department) or Ministry of Transport (MOT) websites
one cannot find any useful information about the recalls. Car
makers are reluctant to call recalls – recalls. They use any other names other
than recalls. For example one car maker calls it product improvement campaign
or services campaign etc. Such terms does not justify the gravity or the
seriousness of the situation. These
information are not available on their home page rather buried under different
menu tabs. One car maker listed the airbag replacement information under product
updates. How do we ensure that vehicle owners replace the dangerous airbags in their car? Do they know how serious the situation is - in the event the airbag does explode?
When
the Malaysian Association of Standards Users came across the incident in
October , 2014, a letter seeking information from JPJ and MOT was issued. After
a week or so, the response came and gave us a sense that both the Ministry and
JPJ have heard about the airbag incident for the first time from our
letter.
So
what advice to car users or vehicle owners with vehicles affected by the
recalls? Stop driving or using your car? No way jose! Not in Malaysia and not
in many parts of the Klang Valley even.
The demand for private vehicles stands
at around half a million annually. Number of road accidents has increased
according to latest statistics. Malaysian drivers’ attitudes and road rage is
quite common coffee shop or social media talk. However, this does not relief
government agencies and car makers from their duty to ensure that only safe
cars are placed on the roads. When a vehicle stalls in the middle of the road, or when steering wheel fluids leak or an airbag explodes (even when the accident happens at the speed of driving at a school car park) these are not results of driver's attitude. How do we explain this to Law's husband and family?
The
National Consumers Complaints Centre (NCCC) have recorded thousands of
complaints related to automobiles and related services. Among them are also
complaints about stalled vehicles and use of sub-standard or allegedly fake
parts. A regular Joe is not an automotive engineer to know if his car
is technically safe before buying it. Car makers have the responsibility to ensure that
what they sell is safe to users. Regulators have the responsibility to ensure
that businesses provide safe products – in this case vehicles.
In
summary, those with greatest knowledge of the problem and have the most
resources, the greatest responsibility to solve it.
[Note: It is also not a fair request to get civil society organisations to organize and promote vehicle safety and safe driving among general public when resources do not reciprocate. As with many developed countries’ governments allocate budget for consumer education and promotion according to their GDP or population size. It is quite frustrating when several CSOs compete for a small allocation and each getting the amount which is a measly amount. CSOs should also ensure that programmes are implemented based on results based approach i.e shows impact, can be replicated and so on. Otherwise we have nothing to show for. ]
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