Honda Jazz airbag recall and crash

lorryw

Almost a month ago I was involved in a horrible crash in our Honda Jazz. My husband was driving and a van suddenly appeared on our side of the road having failed to slow down to wait for a car to turn and swerving into our path. We were travelling at 40/50 mph and I am unable to recall the actual impact. I remember the pain and panic and that the airbag had burst and there seemed to be powder in the air.We were both had incredible chest pain and were both taken to hospital with various injuries. The car was a write off.
We have today received a letter from Honda about the Jazz concerning 'Important safety recall information" Apparently there is an issue with the airbags.
"In some vehicles, the driver airbag inflator could produce excessive internal pressure if the airbag deploys in an impact. The increased internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture possibly causing an injury to vehicle occupants. There is no risk that the driver airbag fitted to your vehicle may deploy unintentionally and that this concern may only be exhibited in the event that the vehicle is involved in a severe impact sufficient to deploy the vehicle airbags.
Should airbags burst and should I contact Honda?

Strider590

What happened to yours sounds normal, they deploy rapidly, dust/power is normal and used to stop the bag sticking to itself (basically like using chalk dust inside a bicycle wheel to stop the inner tube sticking to the tyre), once deflated they slowly deflate to allow the occupants to exit the vehicle.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/honda-cars-britain-recalled-after-7318039

According this no incident has ever been reported by customers and the part that explodes is a metal canister (so basically it might throw shrapel at the passengers).
The whole thing is a "just in case" recall, the issue most likely found in lab conditions.

caprikid1

You should focus, your attention on the van driver, sounds like the car saved your life and functioned perfectly as expected.

nickcc

Toyota, and I would imagine many other vehicle manufacturers, have the same airbag problem. I have been waiting well over twelve months for my RAV 4 airbag to be replaced but due to the enormous number of replacements required this is constantly being postponed.

Fat_Walt

lorryw wrote: »

Almost a month ago I was involved in a horrible crash in our Honda Jazz. My husband was driving and a van suddenly appeared on our side of the road having failed to slow down to wait for a car to turn and swerving into our path. We were travelling at 40/50 mph and I am unable to recall the actual impact. I remember the pain and panic and that the airbag had burst and there seemed to be powder in the air.We were both had incredible chest pain and were both taken to hospital with various injuries. The car was a write off.
We have today received a letter from Honda about the Jazz concerning 'Important safety recall information" Apparently there is an issue with the airbags.
"In some vehicles, the driver airbag inflator could produce excessive internal pressure if the airbag deploys in an impact. The increased internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture possibly causing an injury to vehicle occupants. There is no risk that the driver airbag fitted to your vehicle may deploy unintentionally and that this concern may only be exhibited in the event that the vehicle is involved in a severe impact sufficient to deploy the vehicle airbags.
Should airbags burst and should I contact Honda?

With a view to doing what?

Cars a write off, no doubt the police moved it post collision, the insurance assessed it and you've banked the cheque. Cars probably been crushed by now.

Your airbags were fine and did their job and you can't prove otherwise.

dannyrst

lorryw wrote: »

Almost a month ago I was involved in a horrible crash in our Honda Jazz. My husband was driving and a van suddenly appeared on our side of the road having failed to slow down to wait for a car to turn and swerving into our path. We were travelling at 40/50 mph and I am unable to recall the actual impact. I remember the pain and panic and that the airbag had burst and there seemed to be powder in the air.We were both had incredible chest pain and were both taken to hospital with various injuries. The car was a write off.
We have today received a letter from Honda about the Jazz concerning 'Important safety recall information" Apparently there is an issue with the airbags.
"In some vehicles, the driver airbag inflator could produce excessive internal pressure if the airbag deploys in an impact. The increased internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture possibly causing an injury to vehicle occupants. There is no risk that the driver airbag fitted to your vehicle may deploy unintentionally and that this concern may only be exhibited in the event that the vehicle is involved in a severe impact sufficient to deploy the vehicle airbags.
Should airbags burst and should I contact Honda?

It would be 40mph. I've never seen a Honda Jazz go faster than 40mph.

On a serious note though, I hope you're okay!

Fat_Walt

dannyrst wrote: »

It would be 40mph. I've never seen a Honda Jazz go faster than 40mph.

On a serious note though, I hope you're okay!

I hope the werthers originals survived.

AdrianC

Strider590 wrote: »

The whole thing is a "just in case" recall, the issue most likely found in lab conditions.

It's a bit more than that - a few people have been killed in the years this mess has been dragging on. 11 in the US so far, and four in Malaysia. More than 100m airbags been recalled since 2013, worldwide, 70% in the US.

BUT - and this is fairly key here - the issue itself has only been seen to arise in hot and humid conditions. No evidence has been seen in Europe, although, and certainly not in UK October weather...

lorryw

Thank you for those who expressed concern. We are thankfully on the mend after what has been a life changing event.
Our insurance company is dealing with our claim and my intention with regard to contacting Honda was not for monetary gain. I was unsure if that was how the airbag should react and and after receiving the recall letter was concerned about future safety of other drivers.

jase1

It would be interesting to see how the investigators determine that the design defect on these inflators is to blame in crashes involving 15-year-old cars, as was the case in the most recent example in the USA.

Could it not simply be the case that, after 150% of its stated lifetime the system simply became faulty in some of these cases?

icicles

What a dreadful experience lorryw, I hope your injuries continue to improve. My Honda Jazz was registered in September 2009, Honda sent airbag recall letters to me on 31.5.16 & 7.11.2016, stating they were trying to obtain replacement parts. The large scale recall is taking longer than anticipated to supply sufficient parts but I can carry on using the vehicle! After reading your account I am fortunately having access to another car. Have you only just received your letter?