US safety regulators are urging drivers once again to make sure their vehicles haven’t been recalled after another person was killed by an exploding Takata airbag.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that the person was killed in a crash involving a 2002 Honda Accord when the driver’s airbag inflator ruptured and hurled shrapnel. No location or date of the crash were given.
The death, which was recently confirmed, brings the number of people killed by the airbags to 33 worldwide.
Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate airbags in a crash. But the chemical can become more volatile over time when exposed to moisture in the air and repeated high temperatures. The explosion can rupture a metal canister and hurl shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
Most of the deaths and about 400 injuries have happened in states with warmer weather.
NHTSA urged all owners to check to see if their vehicles have an unrepaired Takata airbag recall. Drivers can go to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and key in their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if they have any open recalls.
The agency says even minor crashes can cause airbags to inflate with the potential for explosions that can kill or hurt people.
Potential for the dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in US history, with at least 67 million Takata inflators recalled. The government says millions have not been repaired. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide. The exploding airbags sent Takata Corp. of Japan into bankruptcy.
Most of the deaths have been in the US, but they also have occurred in Australia and Malaysia.
The first death caused by a Takata inflator occurred in Oklahoma in 2009.
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