And 800,000 vehicles in addition (or less). The Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday that it has ordered car manufacturers all brands to immobilize hundreds of thousands of additional vehicles in France equipped with Takata airbags, implicated in several accidents, bringing to 1.7 million the number of vehicles targeted by a prohibition to circulate for this reason.
The cars concerned are all those equipped with airbags considered at risk in Corsica and overseas as well as the cars dating from before 2011 in the metropolitan territory outside Corsica. At the same time, the ministry requested the general recall of all cars equipped with a risk at risk throughout France, or 600,000 more vehicles. These announcements bring to 2.5 million the number of vehicles targeted by a recall in France, including 1.7 million by a “stop drive”, an obligation to immobilize the car.
Several fatal accidents
“This decision aims to send a clear and firm message to manufacturers, while encouraging the owners of vehicles concerned to have their vehicle checked as soon as possible,” the Ministry of Transport insisted in its press release. Airbags at risk are as well as those who have caused accidents, with ammonium nitrate without drying.
This follows the accident on June 11 in Reims in which a 36 -year -old woman was killed by the explosion of her airbag. The rear passenger, 13 years old, was injured slightly. This is the second fatal accident in mainland France linked to these airbags which caused a total of 18 dead and 25 injured – including 16 deaths and 24 injured in the overseas -, according to the Ministry of Transport. Since 2014, the industrial scandal of these airbags, which have caused a series of deaths, has been shaking the automotive sector worldwide.
A decree soon taken
Because of a badly aging gas, this safety equipment supposed to protect passengers in the event of a shock, can explode, especially in hot and humid climates, projecting parts of the drivers. Many manufacturers had to immobilize millions of vehicles across the planet, to replace defective airbags.
After the Reims accident, the Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot had asked for the immobilization of all the Citroën C3 and DS3 requiring a change of airbag, or 100,000 vehicles. Philippe Tabarot launched an inspection mission on the subject in February. It will soon make its conclusions, in the light of which the Minister does not exclude making other decisions. In the meantime, the Minister will take a decree in the coming days so that each motorist concerned by a immobilization measure can benefit from a courtesy vehicle or from taking charge of his rental car as the summer leave.
