Time bombs on our roads

If you were told you were driving a car with a bomb inside, would you pull over?

The Washington Post reports that more than 60,000 Honda vehicles on the road today have defective airbags that experts have referred to as “ticking time bombs,” an airbag model regarded by safety experts as likeliest to cause serious injury or death. The owners of these vehicles are a small but stubborn subset defying what has been America’s largest safety recall ever. It was initiated in 2008, and directed at Takata Corp., the Japanese manufacturer of the airbags. These owners have ignored the recall notices or never received them; many of the vehicles are older models that probably have changed hands.

The bomb analogy is dramatic but spot on. Worldwide, at least 22 people have been killed when airbags exploded and shot out shrapnel. Hundreds more motorists were seriously injured. The impacts that deployed the devices didn’t have to be major— often they were fender benders. Drivers killed by the airbags have had injuries that resemble gunshot wounds.

A question to those motorists: What are you waiting for?

There’s an easy way to see if your airbag is among the dangerous ones. At NHTSA’s website, www.nhtsa.gov, input your vehicle identification number (VIN), and see whether your car is subject to the recall. If it is, hustle to a dealer. Repairs are free of charge. Knowing what’s at stake for you and your loved ones, how can you put it off any longer?