WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, Chairman of the Senate’s panel on Consumer Protection, this week grilled automakers on whether they have adequately responded to recalls of Takata driver and passenger side airbags.
McCaskill questioned executives from Chrysler and Honda on confusion about the scope and severity of the Takata recall, as well as the remedies available to consumers.
“What’s going on here is a refusal to characterize a problem in a way that is clearly understandable to the consumer.” McCaskill said. “We have had more recalls in the last year and a half in American car manufacturing than in the history of American car manufacturing. Probably more in the last year than in many, many years combined. The problem is, I don’t think the people who are driving these cars understand the risk. Because you guys aren’t even comfortable with being consistent as to whether or not you’re telling [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] it’s a service campaign or a safety recall. Other than avoiding litigation and liability, why would you differentiate between a service call and a safety recall?”
According to reports, Takata employees conducted tests on airbags a decade ago and identified safety problems, which were subsequently covered up by company leadership. Currently, at least 7.8 million vehicles in the United States are subject to recalls or service campaigns due to Takata airbag rupture risks, with five deaths being tied to the defects.
“I’ll tell you what, if I get a letter saying ‘we’re investigating something, would you bring your car in so you can help us?’ I’m busy,” McCaskill continued. “If I get a letter that says, ‘if you drive this, you could have a piece of shrapnel embedded in your eye, if you daughter is sitting in the seat next to you she could be blinded or you could die’ that’s a lot different than ‘hey, we’re checking out an investigation, could you bring it in so we can check it out?’ I think that too many lawyers—we found this in GM, as you all know, you had to have followed it closely—there were lawyers that were trying to avoid litigation. There were not lawyers that were trying to make sure every consumer knew the danger. And we have got to get out of this defensive crouch about liability litigation, and get into an offensive position about making sure drivers are safe. And until your companies decide to do that, until NHTSA is a more capable and aggressive partner in that, consumers are going to be in the dark.”
This week, McCaskill responded to NHTSA’s announcement that it is calling for a national recall of vehicles with driver side airbags made by Takata that are currently covered by regional recalls or regional service campaigns. McCaskill also responded to reports that the Justice Department has issued Takata a federal grand jury subpoena, and had previously called on the Justice Department to consider criminal charges against Takata.
On Wednesday, McCaskill responded to the nomination of Dr. Mark Rosekind to be NHTSA Administrator, saying she looks forward to his answers on how to restore the public trust in the agency and implement cultural changes there, since the agency has been without an Administrator for too long.
Earlier this year, McCaskill led the Senate’s investigation into recent recalls at General Motors. McCaskill led three Senate hearings into issues surrounding 2.6 million vehicles recalled for defective ignition switches that have been linked to a number of deaths, and also held a hearing on bipartisan rental car safety legislation that she has introduced.