Thousands of people die on our national roads every year. According to advocacy groups there has been some slight improvements in deaths between 2017 and 2018, that is because car manufacturers are taking safety more serious. Car manufacturers like Honda has worked hard to make Honda cars the safest cars on the road.
Honda Civic is one of the favourite Honda models in Australia. In 2017, a recall was issued overall fault with the passenger airbag inflator at the time when the beta inflator was the one that had the problem and it was found to have affected 592 cars.
The main issue was that as the airbag inflator got older it began to degrade. The humidity and high temperature can cause the inflator propellant to degrade. If the vehicle is involved in a collision the metal housing mag explode and propel metal pieces though the airbag causing injuries to the passengers. The same problem was identified in 4,897 Honda Jazz vehicles, 325 Honda Jazz Hybrid vehicles, 43 Honda Insight vehicles and 5,458 Honda Accord Euro vehicles.
Further adding to the problems is a new recall starting in 2020 on previously affected honda vehicles fitted with replacement airbags following the initial takata recall, the replacement takata airbags were also shown to be defective. Owners are advised to be patient and wait for the 2020 recall to have their airbags replaced once again, and avoid trying to make the repair themselves using Honda workshop manuals.
The Honda Accord was also recalled for improperly manufactured battery sensors installed in the cars. There batteries were installed with gaps that allow moisture to come through. If moisture with conductive elements like road salts got into the battery sensor it could cause a short and ultimately trigger a fire. Affected car owners were contacted and advised to have a Honda technician have a look at their cars. The dealerships would inspect and replace the defective sensors.
The previously recalled 2013 Jazz, the 2013 Jazz Hybrid, 2013 Honda Insight and 2013 Accord Euro models that had been recalled for having a defective airbag inflator had to be re called again because of the same airbag issue. This later became part of the bigger Takata Airbag recall that affected 20 car brands across the globe and millions of cars worldwide.
This isn’t the biggest recall that Honda had to face at least one that affected the same manufacturer. In the 90’s. In 1995, 8.3 million vehicles including major manufacturers like GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Chrysler, Isuzu, Subaru and Honda manufactured between 1986 and 1995 were involved in the biggest recall of the 90’s. It was found that the latch of the Takata seat belts was prone to cracking or jamming the lock. This meant that it trapped the passenger in the seat. The recall cost the industry an estimated $1 billion.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Honda Insight is one of the safest cars on our roads this year. The Insight was rated one of the best cars in the NCAP ratings as far as 2009. The new 2019 Honda Insight is has proven again to be the safest car because of its excellent crashworthiness and a entire suite of advanced safety features. Honda proves once more that it manufactures cars that aren’t just pretty or fuel efficient but they make cars that are extremely safe.
The greatest testimony is that looking at the recalls issued in recent years, Honda has not had a lot of recalls that were really triggered by major manufacturing faults. They are proactive about their recalls and that is why they are always the first to find faults and issue recalls as they did with the recent airbag issue. They had a handle on it before it was a major global issue.
