By — Laura Santhanam Laura Santhanam Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/government-issues-massive-recall-fatally-flawed-airbags Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Are you driving a car with dangerous airbags? Nation Oct 21, 2014 5:55 PM EDT The U.S. government recently issued an immediate recall for more than 4.7 million vehicles that were installed with defective airbags. However, the consumer website that lists vehicle identification numbers included in the recall did not appear to be working on Tuesday. On Monday, the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration urged U.S. owners to look up their vehicle identification number to see if their car or truck was featured in the recall. According to the recall, the airbags contained a potentially fatal flaw and were made by Takata, a Japanese automobile parts manufacturer. Once deployed, the faulty airbags have released metal shrapnel during crashes that has led to the deaths of at least four people, CBS News reported. The affected automobiles include several models of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, BMW and General Motors and were sold within the United States. The NHTSA recall alert noted that consumers in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii needed to be particularly aware of the risks with these airbags. NHTSA included the following vehicles in this recall: Toyota: 778,177 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2002 – 2004 Lexus SC 2003 – 2004 Toyota Corolla 2003 – 2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix 2002 – 2004 Toyota Sequoia 2003 – 2004 Toyota Tundra 2003 – 2004 Pontiac Vibe Honda: 2,803,214 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2001 – 2007 Honda Accord (4 cyl) 2001 – 2002 Honda Accord (6 cyl) 2001 – 2005 Honda Civic 2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V 2003 – 2011 Honda Element 2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey 2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot 2006 – Honda Ridgeline 2003 – 2006 Acura MDX 2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL Nissan: 437,712 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima 2001 – 2003 Nissan Pathfinder 2002 – 2003 Nissan Sentra 2001 – 2003 Infiniti I30/I35 2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4 2003 – Infiniti FX Mazda: 18,050 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2003 – 2004 Mazda6 2004 – Mazda RX-8 BMW: 573,935 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2000 – 2005 3 Series Sedan 2000 – 2006 3 Series Coupe 2000 – 2005 3 Series Sports Wagon 2000 – 2006 3 Series Convertible 2001 – 2006 M3 Coupe 2001 – 2006 M3 Convertible General Motors: 133,221 total number potentially affected vehicles 2002 – 2003 Buick LeSabre 2002 – 2003 Buick Rendezvous 2002 – 2003 Cadillac DeVille 2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer 2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Impala 2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Venture 2002 – 2003 GMC Envoy 2002 – 2003 GMC Envoy XL 2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Aurora 2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Bravada 2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Silhouette 2002 – 2003 Pontiac Bonneville 2002 – 2003 Pontiac Montana The government urged consumers to check its vehicle identification number reference website to see if their automobiles were included in the recall. However, on Tuesday, the website appeared to not be working. It is part of the SaferCar.gov website and is operated by NHTSA. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Laura Santhanam Laura Santhanam Laura Santhanam is the Health Reporter and Coordinating Producer for Polling for the PBS NewsHour, where she has also worked as the Data Producer. Follow @LauraSanthanam @LauraSanthanam
The U.S. government recently issued an immediate recall for more than 4.7 million vehicles that were installed with defective airbags. However, the consumer website that lists vehicle identification numbers included in the recall did not appear to be working on Tuesday. On Monday, the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration urged U.S. owners to look up their vehicle identification number to see if their car or truck was featured in the recall. According to the recall, the airbags contained a potentially fatal flaw and were made by Takata, a Japanese automobile parts manufacturer. Once deployed, the faulty airbags have released metal shrapnel during crashes that has led to the deaths of at least four people, CBS News reported. The affected automobiles include several models of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, BMW and General Motors and were sold within the United States. The NHTSA recall alert noted that consumers in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii needed to be particularly aware of the risks with these airbags. NHTSA included the following vehicles in this recall: Toyota: 778,177 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2002 – 2004 Lexus SC 2003 – 2004 Toyota Corolla 2003 – 2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix 2002 – 2004 Toyota Sequoia 2003 – 2004 Toyota Tundra 2003 – 2004 Pontiac Vibe Honda: 2,803,214 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2001 – 2007 Honda Accord (4 cyl) 2001 – 2002 Honda Accord (6 cyl) 2001 – 2005 Honda Civic 2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V 2003 – 2011 Honda Element 2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey 2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot 2006 – Honda Ridgeline 2003 – 2006 Acura MDX 2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL Nissan: 437,712 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima 2001 – 2003 Nissan Pathfinder 2002 – 2003 Nissan Sentra 2001 – 2003 Infiniti I30/I35 2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4 2003 – Infiniti FX Mazda: 18,050 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2003 – 2004 Mazda6 2004 – Mazda RX-8 BMW: 573,935 total number of potentially affected vehicles 2000 – 2005 3 Series Sedan 2000 – 2006 3 Series Coupe 2000 – 2005 3 Series Sports Wagon 2000 – 2006 3 Series Convertible 2001 – 2006 M3 Coupe 2001 – 2006 M3 Convertible General Motors: 133,221 total number potentially affected vehicles 2002 – 2003 Buick LeSabre 2002 – 2003 Buick Rendezvous 2002 – 2003 Cadillac DeVille 2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer 2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Impala 2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 2002 – 2003 Chevrolet Venture 2002 – 2003 GMC Envoy 2002 – 2003 GMC Envoy XL 2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Aurora 2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Bravada 2002 – 2003 Oldsmobile Silhouette 2002 – 2003 Pontiac Bonneville 2002 – 2003 Pontiac Montana The government urged consumers to check its vehicle identification number reference website to see if their automobiles were included in the recall. However, on Tuesday, the website appeared to not be working. It is part of the SaferCar.gov website and is operated by NHTSA. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now