In the little town of Quemado, Texas—about 140 miles from San Antonio—a new Takata recall danger was exposed. A truck suddenly left the roadway and crashed near the house of a 69-year-old woman. At first, the crash seemed like any other west Texas truck crash and then the entire town shook. The 18-wheeler that crashed was carrying defective Takata airbag inflators. And those inflators turned that truck into a bomb.
Transporting Defective Inflators: The Newest Takata Recall Danger
The truck transporting Takata airbag inflators caught fire and exploded. The blast demolished the nearby home of a 69-year-old woman, who was in the house when the inflators detonated. She did not survive the explosion.
A Toyota driving in the opposite direction of the truck was also caught in the blast. The driver and passenger of that vehicle were seriously injured and later transported to local hospitals. The truck driver and his passenger were also injured and transported to local medical facilities. However, this was only the beginning of the destruction.
At least 10 homes were damaged by fire and shrapnel raining from the sky. Police found debris from the explosion two miles from the crash site, and Takata representatives have told local residents to be on the lookout. Some of the debris from this crash could be unexploded defective airbag inflators, which could be volatile and deadly. Locals were urged to contact the authorities to properly dispose of any shrapnel found.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board have already dispatched investigators, but they say that the defective inflators were being properly transported. This information isn’t quite enough for the two U.S. senators in charge of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey are demanding a federal investigation into the explosion, and the truck driver has already filed a lawsuit against Takata. The blast victims and their families may soon follow his example.
This incident may result in more lawsuits and perhaps new regulations for transporting volatile chemicals. But in the meantime, Takata continues to flounder in the implications of the largest auto recall in American history. What new twists will the Takata recall take next? Keep following your Coral Gables defective auto parts attorneys at this blog to find out.
