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SuisseMortal Airgbags: more than 10,000 Citroën immobilized
The manufacturer orders certain C3 and DS3 holders to no longer take the wheel. Recalcitrants risk their gray card.
The failing airbags of the Takata brand make the C3 and the DS3s dangerous.
AFPChange of brutal tone in the Citroën C3, C4 and DS3 reminder campaign still equipped with Takata airbags (those produced between 2009 and 2019). So far, the 10,244 holders were asked to have them replaced, free of charge, “as soon as possible”. Since Tuesday, they have a formal ban on riding as long as it is not done. Meanwhile, the accidental explosion of one of these devices, June 11, killed a motorist in Reims (F).
“Cars can only be used to go to the selected repair workshop, the day of the appointment,” says Dušan Radić, spokesperson for Citroën in Switzerland. Our customers should not take any risk in order to avoid any incident as much as possible. ”
Justice get involved in France
Investigating judges are investigating suspicion of aggravated deception and endangering the life of others in the faulty airbag case who would have killed a 36 -year -old woman in Reims recently. Investigations could even be extended to three fatal accidents. In the Hautes-Pyrennees in 2023, a 50-year-old had already died in such circumstances. Finally, in 2021, a 70 -year -old man had lost his life in Martinique, still driving a Citroën C3.
If the tone is also alarmist, it is because the crisis is serious. Around the world, 45 people have already lost their lives because of this defect; Most because of screw projections and metal chips in the passenger compartment. In Switzerland, around a million cars have been equipped with these dangerous airbags at one time or another. To date, 720,000 vehicles have been repaired, 93,000 must be and 280,000 have been removed from traffic. Different manufacturers, such as Honda, made the changes several years ago already. But the total stop of the vehicle had not been ordered.
A stop decreed much earlier elsewhere
Citroën had asked last Tuesday already the immediate immobilization of all models of C3 and DS3 cars still equipped with Takata airbags in Europe. And this, whatever their year of production. Some 441,000 C3 and DS3 were affected, including 82,000 in France. Asked about the deadline that separates the European decision from the Swiss decision on Tuesday, Citroën specifies that the official letters, which are proof, will be sent this week at the same time throughout Europe.
Note that a “stop drive”, as it is called, is a measure taken by a manufacturer. It is not a order of the authorities. The fact remains that the Federal Road Office has been informed, and that “if a vehicle holder ignores the letters sent to him and does not have the necessary repairs carried out, the car service of the canton concerned can withdraw the traffic vehicle,” he explains.
To know with certainty if a vehicle is affected by the recall campaign, the owners can address their garage.
