Following an announcement by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Administration, Takata Corp. admitted for the first time that a defect was causing its airbags to rupture, leading to a record recall of 34 million vehicles. Despite this admission, plaintiffs’ lawyers, including lead counsel Peter Prieto of Podhurst Orseck, argue the company has not addressed the root cause of the problem. The attorneys contend that Takata’s use of ammonium nitrate, a cheaper and more volatile chemical, is the fundamental issue and that even replacement inflators still contain this dangerous substance. While Takata cooperates with the investigation, plaintiffs’ lawyers in over 100 pending cases hope to reveal the full extent of the problem through the discovery process.
Read the full article: Law360
Originally published by Amanda Bronstad | May 2015 | Law360
