New Takata Models Recalled

Telsa, McLaren, and Ferrari were added to the list of famous Takata recalls today along with a few others. The Takata brand airbags became a danger to drivers in 2008. The inflating mechanisms in these airbags were defective and sent metal spraying from the steering wheel. The discovery of this factory defect was as horrific as it sounds.

You can find out if your car is on the list here.

As in most cases, this tragedy taught us a lot about recalls and repairs. Minimizing risk and spreading important information saved lives. The Takata Recall was the largest safety recall in United States History. With the power of the internet and a crisis unlike any other, Takata could not save these at-risk lives alone.

This recall was unlike any other before it and called for unique handling. This was due to the scale of the recall and the severity of its impact (pun intended). Here are some things this recall taught us about the nature of recalls as a whole.

Stay in Touch

The first step to repairing the malfunction is knowing that it exists. You can get updates on all safety recalls by subscribing to the email list for safecar.gov. They alert the subscribers immediately about any safety recalls from motorcycles to child safety seats.

Don't wait until the news is announcing those that have been injured by the recall. You have the ability to know before it gets that bad so you should take advantage of it. You don't want to be one of those people on the news.

Repair Instantly

The recall was announced in 2008. By then, most of the vehicles that were affected by the mistake had been listed. However, there were still fatalities occurring as late as 2011. Some people didn't know the risk was so high while others delayed the repair until it was too late.

Recalls are not a simple annoyance. They can be life-threatening. A repair option was to temporarily replace the previous airbag inflator with a newly manufactured version of the same brand. This would soon also be replaced but would tide drivers over until the suitable replacements were available.

Communicate and Share

The National Highway of Traffic and Safety Administration was in a scary position. With thousands of vehicles potentially equipped with faulty and deadly airbag inflation, it was necessary to get that information to everyone as quickly as possible.

The use of social media in this campaign was unprecedented and still helps communicate important recalls to those that may not of know. Those standard press releases and news spots weren't going to do the job with a recall on this scale.

The effects of the dangerous incident will be lasting. The way that we handle recalls from now on will be dramatically different and for the best. To better understand recalls, how they work, and what to do click here.