Kentucky drivers and their passengers routinely confront roadway challenges posing safety risks.
Those crash-inducing catalysts are many and broad-based. Some motorists routinely drive with pedal-to-the-metal enthusiasm, virtually flying along at unsafe speeds that imperil all other vehicle occupants.
Other drivers recklessly tailgate, weave excessively and brake sharply. They play with kids and pets, shave, apply makeup and eat while driving with their knees. It is far from a rarity on state streets and highways to see a motorist whizzing by with one hand grasping the steering hand and the other wrapped around a cellphone.
Those are all manifestly endangering behaviors, with negligence on display that literally drives catastrophic and fatal outcomes.
Yet they hardly comprise the entirety of risks that Kentucky motorists and their peers nationally face when they turn the ignition switch and pull out into traffic.
Recent high-profile media stores underscore an additional concern that is longstanding and that continues to present outsized risks for the American motoring public.
They note this: there are exploding air bags to contend with.
A serious matter: The frightful Takata air bag saga continues
It’s likely the case that most Kentucky drivers – virtually all, perhaps – are at least somewhat familiar with the dramatic and unprecedented details surrounding the nightmarish tale of the Takata Corporation’s defective air bags. Here a few key points to note:
- Multiple deaths and injuries worldwide, including at least 18 fatalities in the United States
- Largest air bag recall in history, involving about 100 million defective bag inflators
- Sudden bag explosions shooting shrapnel at drivers and passengers
- Still incomplete recall, with a reported 11 million-plus inflators yet awaiting fixes domestically
- Huge variety of affected vehicle types and models (e.g., passenger cars, SUVs and pickup trucks)
Those numbers and statistics are obviously outsized, but their snapshot presentation falls far short of a complete and final picture concerning the debacle.
Because there’s much more.
Next-stage developments in the air bag recall story
Federal regulators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently concluded a painstaking multi-year study into the bags’ problems and the solution required to promote a safe outcome.
The NHTSA’s just-announced mandate is pointed and instructive. Here are its key dictates:
- Order to General Motors to recall an additional 6 million vehicles domestically; and
- Conclusive presumption that every Takata inflator is potentially dangerous and must be recalled
As noted above, the already huge and ongoing recall is now rendered even more noteworthy by the sheer scope of affected vehicles. They include GM’s top-selling Chevrolet Silverado pickups and also Suburban, Tahoe, Avalanche and Yukon SUVs.
Crash-catalyst risks are materially concerning regardless of their source. Victims injured by third-party driving negligence, a machine/equipment malfunction or any other reason can feel empowered by taking proactive and aggressive measures aimed at securing accountability, deterrence and maximum compensation.
An experienced and results-oriented personal injury legal team can help promote those key objectives.
