Five class action lawsuits have been filed in the past month alleging unlawful conduct involving airbags manufactured by Takata Corporation. The class action lawsuits are pending in different U.S. District Courts – two in the Southern District of Florida, two in the Central District of California, and one in the Eastern District of Michigan – and plaintiffs are requested they get consolidated.

At issue are the Takata airbags that were installed in millions of vehicles in the United States by various vehicle manufacturers, including Chrysler, Honda, GM, Toyota, BMW, Nissan and Ford. Collectively, with Takata, they are the defendants in the airbag class action lawsuits.

Car owners allege that Takata’s airbags, “instead of protecting vehicle occupants from bodily injury during accidents, violently explode and eject lethal amounts of metal debris and shrapnel, causing serious injury and death.” Takata airbags are blamed in at least four deaths and numerous injuries, including loss of vision, loss of hearing, mutilation and seizures.

Plaintiffs are requesting the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to consolidate pre-trial proceedings to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Each related case involves claims arising from the defendants’ “manufacture and installation into vehicles of the defective airbags that have resulted in substantial injury to drivers and passengers and in some cases death.”

As is the case with most multidistrict litigation (MDL) cases, the proposed transfer is being requested for the convenience of parties and witnesses, elimination of duplicative discovery, to prevent conflicting pre-trial rulings, reduce litigation costs and allow for a more expedient path to trial.

All of the airbag class action lawsuits accuse the defendants of not fixing the allegedly defective airbags quickly enough to prevent injury. Their claims include fraudulent concealment, breach of implied warranties, and violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and state consumer protection statutes.

Argument on the plaintiffs’ motion for expedited discovery is set for Dec. 8.

Takata Airbag Issues

Worldwide, over 14 million vehicles with Takata airbags have been recalled due to a defect that allegedly causes the airbags to explode in humid conditions. According to court papers, a majority of the recalls occurred over the past year. But many individuals are still waiting for their car dealers to get the parts make repairs.

“There are insufficient reliable replacement parts for the manufacturers to timely comply with the ever-increasing number of recalls,” said Lawrence A. Sucharow, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

According to Takata airbag class action lawsuits, while the recall didn’t start until recently, the automakers allegedly knew of the defect for at least five years. Honda first reported a problem with its Takata airbags in 2008. Regulators were notified, but no action was taken.

Takata reportedly became aware of the manufacturing defect as early as 2001, with the first Isuzu vehicle recall. The issue came to light again in 2004, with an instance of an exploding airbag in Hondas. In 2009, the recall expanded to 400,000 vehicles after two women died from their airbags exploding and ejecting shrapnel in minor accidents.