Faulty Airbag Possible Cause of Orlando Woman’s Death
The US Government agency recently issued a recall of airbags that now affects over 8 million cars in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has warned of faulty airbags manufactured by Takata. The airbags can injure or kill the driver or passenger when it deploys during an accident. On Sept 29, an Orlando woman may have been the victim of one of these recalled airbags.
Hien Tran was driving home from her job at the family nail salon, when she was involved in a head-on collision. Tran had severe lacerations to her neck, but none of the windows in the car were broken. She was taken to the hospital, but never recovered. She died on October 2, 2014.
Her neck wounds initially led investigators to believe that Tran had been the victim of a homicide. Emergency personnel said that it looked like knife wounds to her neck. Police interviewed friends and family members, but did not have any credible motives or leads for such a crime.
A few weeks after the crash, the Tran family received a recall letter from Honda, notifying them of defective airbags. Tran drove a 2009 Honda Accord. Investigators now believe that the Takata airbag was the cause of her death. When the airbags deploy during an accident, they send out small pieces of metal and shrapnel that injures or possibly kills the driver or other occupants. Tran is presumed to be the third victim of these defective airbags.
The recall includes hundreds of vehicles from manufacturers such as Nissan, Mazda, Toyota, GM, Mitsubishi, Chrysler, BMW and Subaru. Vehicle owners are encouraged to visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a complete list of the vehicles included in the recall. People can also type in their vehicle’s VIN number into the website and see if their car is part of the recall.
Government officials are urging car owners to get their vehicles repaired as soon as possible. Auto dealers and service centers have been inundated with request for repairs since the recall, and therefore might be short on replacement airbags or the parts needed to repair them.
Contact Florida product liability attorney James O. Cunningham at 877-FL-INJURY (877-354-6587) if you or a loved one have been affected by this recent auto product recall.
James O. Cunningham
Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.