Takata Corp. rejected a USA senator’s request to launch a compensation fund for victims of rupturing air bags at the center of the largest automotive recall in USA history.
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At least eight people have been killed and more than 100 injured by air bag inflators that can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel into drivers and passengers. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) that “a national compensation fund is not now required”.
In the wake of the General Motors ignition switch recall, the automaker created a compensation fund that so far has accepted 372 claims of injuries or deaths and counting.
“Takata is apparently unwilling to acknowledge its responsibility for these tragic deaths and injuries, or do justice for victims and their loved ones”, he said.
Blumenthal, formerly Connecticut’s consumer-friendly attorney general, said he would press Takata to reconsider what he calls a “callous misjudgment and do right by the innocent victims of its harm”.
At a hearing last month, Takata conceded that the number of deaths linked to the record-setting recall of about 32 million vehicles may rise. The defective airbags were used in cars manufactured by companies, including Honda, Lexus and Chrysler.
The company said in its letter to Blumenthal that the company is working compensate people who are impacted by its faulty airbags without the establishment of a payment fund and working quickly to fix cars that contain the defective part.
Blumenthal asked Kennedy about the fund at a June 23 hearing.
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“Takata’s senior management has given the idea of a compensation fund careful consideration, and we will continue to evaluate the possible benefits of such a mechanism in relation to the personal injury lawsuits involving air bag ruptures and the multi-district litigation proceedings now pending in federal court in the Southern District of Florida”, Kennedy said.
