Defective Takata Airbag Blamed for 17th Death

Investigators have ruled that a defective Takata airbag was responsible for the death of a person traveling in a Honda in August. The death is at least the 17th fatality related to the defective Takata airbags.

CarAndDriver.com reports that the victim was traveling in a 2002 Honda Civic in Arizona on August 20th when the victim was involved in a crash. Though the details of the crash are unclear, investigators determined that the driver was killed by an exploding Takata airbag. 

The article indicates that the vehicle involved in the crash was one of seven “Alpha” Honda models that incorporated the defective Takata airbags. The airbag in the Honda was part of a massive recall of 56 million Takata airbags that suffered from the defect, which could cause the airbags to inflate violently, propelling shrapnel and harming or killing motorists.