On Nov. 17, Takata Corp. and Honda Motor Co. were both hit with a Takata airbag lawsuit alleging a Florida woman died last month because of an exploding Takata manufactured airbag installed in the deceased plaintiff’s Honda vehicle.

The Takata airbag wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the family of Hien T., who allegedly died in early October following a car crash.

During the incident, Hien’s Honda Accord collided with another vehicle and instead of the Takata airbag inflating to protect Hien from the impact, the product allegedly exploded. A Florida medical examiner stated that Hien’s body exhibited “stab-type wounds” allegedly caused by the Takata airbag shrapnel, which allegedly contributed to the driver’s death.

The death of Hien is the most recent fatal incident connected to a Takata airbag exploding in a Honda vehicle within the United States during the 2014 year. Of the four known Takata Honda airbag deaths, three of the deaths, including Hien’s, occurred in a Honda Accord installed with a Takata airbag.

From 2009 until present, eight serious injuries linked to an exploding Takata airbag have been identified. Since then, Takata and the car makers whose cars are equipped with Takata airbags have nationally recalled thousands of cars.

Beside airbag lawsuits and Takata airbag wrongful death lawsuits, Takata, Honda, and other car manufacturers  are currently facing over 15 Takata airbag class action lawsuits from consumers who allege their vehicles have depreciated in value thanks to the alleged airbag defect.

Takata Airbag Recall

Since last year, Takata has recalled 8 million vehicles installed with the company’s allegedly defective airbags. According to various personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, the Takata airbags are designed in such a way that allows moisture to seep into the airbag system and to then come in contact with ammonium nitrate. The ammonium nitrate present in the airbags allows the Takata airbag to ignite and inflate instantly during vehicular collision.

However, because of the alleged exploding airbag defect, when the ammonium nitrate substance comes in contact with moisture, the that airbag can explode. Plastic and metal shrapnel from the airbag is shot at a high velocity and force into inside the vehicle, which can injure both drivers and passengers.

According to the various news reports and personal injury lawsuits, the injuries stemming from the airbag’s lethal shrapnel were typical of injuries sustained by shooting and stabbing victims.

The Takata airbag recall has affected over 50 different models manufactured by Toyota, Honda, Mazda, and a number of other automakers that were made between 2000 and 2011. This airbag recall includes, but is not limited to:

• Acura – MDX / TL / CL / RL
• BMW – 3 Series Sedan / Coupe / Convertible / Wagon, M3 Coupe / Convertible
• Chrysler – 300, Aspen
• Dodge – Ram 1500 / 2500 / 3500/ 4500 / 5500, Durango, Dakota
• Ford – GT, Mustang, Ranger
• Honda – Accord, Civic, CRV, Element, Odyssey, Pilot
• Infiniti – I30, I35, QX4, FX35, FX45
• Lexus – SC
• Mazda – 6, Speed 6, RX, 8, MPV, B Series Truck
• Mitsubishi – Lancer, Raider
• Nissan – Maxima, Pathfinder, Sentra
• Pontiac – Vibe
• Saab – 9-2X
• Subaru – Baja, Legacy, Outback, Impreza
• Toyota – Corolla, Sequoia, Tundra

Because of the sheer number of cars allegedly affected by the Takata airbag defect and the claims that the company knew of the defect since 2001, many consumers have filed Takata airbag defect lawsuits or have joined Takata airbag defect class action lawsuits.