At least 17 deaths and 180 injuries worldwide are now tied to the defect that prompted the largest ever auto safety recall and led Takata to file for bankruptcy protection last month. Honda Motor Co. on Monday confirmed an 11th U.S. death involving one of its vehicles tied to a faulty Takata Corp. airbag inflator.
The Japanese automaker said the incident occurred in Florida in June 2016 when an individual was working on repairs on a 2001 Honda Accord and the airbag ruptured. Takata inflators can explode with excessive force, unleashing metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks. The Honda Accord was among a group of more than 300,000 unrepaired recalled Honda vehicles equipped with inflators with a substantial risk of rupturing.
Honda said the vehicle's registered owners had received at least 12 recall notices but never got recommended repairs. The individual working on the vehicle in Hialeah, Fla., died a day after sustaining injuries when the airbag deployed.
