Airbags and ignition catastrophes represent inflection points impelling auto industry, regulatory and consumer rethinks of what we expect of motor vehicles.
Dealer successes upselling customers coming in for airbag or ignitor replacements to newer cars or vehicles unaffected by recalls mask the seriousness of the situation.
Regulatory costs and fines are soaring. The National Highway Transportation Safety Admin. reached a $70 million settlement with Honda to resolve claims concerning Honda’s failure to report “early warning information” concerning death and injury data in connection with safety defects in January. Without that data, regulators cannot monitor automobile safety with adequate precision or specificity. Manufacturers are obligated to report the information to comply with the TREAD Act.
In the airbag crisis, new materials offer the potential to resolve safety concerns. Automobile manufacturers and dealers can retrofit existing airbags using them. Instead of rending when stretched or shocked, these newer materials can contain shrapnel even when airbags inflate under intense activation stresses and pressure. They strengthen under load to create stronger, lighter fabrics that fit tight airbag cavities with greater flexibility than metals.
These new materials withstand moisture and humidity. They moot uncertainty that replacement and future airbags may be no less dangerous.
Automobile airbag safety recalls affect as many as 11 million cars in the U.S. 20 million worldwide. NHTSA is calling for a national recall of vehicles in which drivers could suffer catastrophic injuries due to allegedly defective Takata airbags. The agency forecasts more recalls as likely this year.
Last month, NHTSA issued a recall for 2.1 million vehicles to remedy a TRW electronic control unit, which can trigger inadvertent airbag activations when there are no crashes, amid uncertainty concerning the safety of earlier replacements. Jeep Liberty and Cherokee, Honda Odyssey and Acura, Pontiac Vibe, Dodge Viper, and Toyota Corolla, Matrix and Avalon during 2002-2004 model years have experienced the problem, NHTSA indicates.
The Takata directive affects BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota. Honda has recalled 13 million cars to address airbag safety. Takata is evaluating ruptures that have occurred and has shaken up senior management, but continues to cite low failure rates.
Lawmakers cannot tolerate constituents suffering lethal or life-altering catastrophic automobile accidents nor any appearance of being snookered on industry commitments to safety yet again. NHTSA fines and settlements express a regulatory response to these concerns.
Congress is evaluating increased whistleblower rewards and protections for auto industry executives and engineers to enable regulators to get timely information to enforce safety rules. Lawmakers are also crafting tighter rules on industry reliance on settlements to suppress catastrophic accident news.
In November, Japan Transport Minister Akihiro Ohta requested explanations from airbag manufacturer Takata and expressed concern that the Japanese auto industry is risking loss of consumer trust. A national recall of designated vehicles is taking place.
Auto industry integration of new materials would signal to consumers, legislators and regulators that industry leadership is actually focusing on and committed to well-made, reliable cars and consumer welfare.
New materials enable auto manufacturers and dealers to exceed consumer expectations and to meet regulatory obligations with stronger, lighter, safer, well-designed motor vehicles to power generational manufacturing growth and public safety.
Hugh Carter Donahue and Christopher Pastore are principals, Energetic Textiles, a technology originator, partnering new materials engineering and manufacturing innovators.
