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Honda Recalls 772,000 Vehicles In The U.S. Because Some Air Bags Eject Metal Shrapnel

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The air bags in these types of vehicles have killed 16 and injured 180 people worldwide, after several reports of the safety device ejecting metal shrapnel throughout the car upon impact, according to the Associated Press.

“This is the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in May, as vehicle recalls gradually materialized.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing in November of 2014 to examine the air bags of Takata, the corporation that manufacturers and supplies the air bags, as well as the recall process.

“I was instantly blind on my right side, and then I felt gushing blood,” Stephanie Erdman, an Air Force officer who was severely injured during a crash in her 2002 Honda Civic, attested during the hearing. Erdman detailed how metal debris punctured the air bag and shot into her face.

“Since then, I have endured multiple surgeries and therapy — I have more of them to go. My vision will never be the same. I will never be the same,” Erdman continued, according to The New York Times.

Hiroshi Shimizu, Takata’s senior vice president for global quality assurance, was forced to testify on behalf of his company.

Takata uses chemical ammonium nitrate to spark a small combustion and thus inflate the air bags during a crash. But the explosions are not evidently not always controlled properly and ultimately discharg metal fragments.

Roughly 100 million vehicles from 17 different car companies around the world have been recalled due to Takata’s metal spewing air bags, with 69 million just in the U.S., reports the Associated Press.

Honda announced the most recent recall late Tuesday. Replacements for the vehicles are expected to take years.

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