Yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ordered Takata to preserve all defective airbag inflators removed during the recall process.
According to the agency, these defective inflators are to be preserved as evidence not only for the NHTSA’s investigation but also for private litigation as well.
The order went further ensuring that the NHTSA will have access to ALL of the data gathered from the testing of those removed inflators.
“This department is focused on protecting the American public from these defective air bags and at getting to the bottom of how they came to be included in millions of vehicles on U.S. roads,” said Foxx. “This preservation order will help us get the answers we need to accomplish those goals.”
The NHTSA is currently taking steps to upgrade its investigation to an engineering analysis, another step in the defect investigations process.
Takata concealed this deadly defect for years before admitting to the problem.
Now, the NHTSA is inching ever closer to a forced recall in order to remove these potentially-deadly airbags from U.S. roads.
The automotive defect attorneys at Zehl & Associates are currently representing dozens of individuals harmed by defective Takata airbags.
Contact our firm today if you have any questions regarding the recall or your options in the wake of an injury.