{"id":41677,"date":"2016-07-02T11:36:48","date_gmt":"2016-07-02T11:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=41677"},"modified":"2016-07-02T11:36:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-02T11:36:48","slug":"residents-driving-2003-2004-honda-acura-vehicles-takata-airbags-stop-immediately-d-o-j-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677","title":{"rendered":"V.I. Honda And Acura Owners Should Replace Airbags Immediately; A.G. Claude Walker Warns"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. JOHN — Following an urgent plea by federal regulators on Thursday that airbags in more than 300,000 Honda and Acura vehicles were\u00a0at an unacceptably high risk of exploding, and should be replaced immediately, Attorney General Claude Walker on Friday asked Honda and Acura owners in the territory to stop driving the affected vehicles and get them repaired immediately.<\/p>\n

Laboratory tests underway on airbags collected from recalled vehicles indicate that Takata airbags in certain 2001-3 Honda and Acura vehicles had \u201cas high as a 50 percent chance of a dangerous airbag inflater rupture in a crash,\u201d the U.S. transportation secretary, Anthony Foxx, said in a bulletin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese vehicles are unsafe and need to be repaired immediately,\u201d Mr. Foxx said. \u201cFolks should not drive these vehicles unless they are going straight to a dealer to have them repaired immediately, free of charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the territory, Mr. Walker was just as direct.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese cars pose a grave and immediate risk. I urge all residents of the Virgin Islands who drive these 2001-3 Honda and Acura vehicles to check whether their cars are covered by this new federal notice, to stop using them, and to seek immediate repairs,\u201d said Mr. Walker. “As NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] again has made clear, the risk that these airbags will explode is especially great in high temperature and humidity areas such as the Virgin Islands.”<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThis latest warning indicates that Virgin Islands residents driving these vehicles are at the greatest possible risk of injury and must not ignore this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The at-risk vehicles are:<\/p>\n

\u25a0 2001-2002 Honda Civic
\n\u25a0 2001-2002 Honda Accord
\n\u25a0 2002-2003 Acura TL
\n\u25a0 2002 Honda CR-V
\n\u25a0 2002 Honda Odyssey
\n\u25a0 2003 Acura CL
\n\u25a0 2003 Honda Pilot<\/p>\n

The bulletin adds new urgency to the effort to recall and replace defective Takata airbags, which have been linked to at least 14 deaths and more than 100 injuries. Problems with the propellant that inflates the airbag can cause a metal part to rupture when the bag is deployed in a crash, shooting metal fragments toward the car\u2019s driver or passengers.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Virgin Islands Attorney General\u2019s Office filed a far-reaching lawsuit against Takata and Honda<\/a><\/span>, for producing and selling these dangerous airbags, and for failing to disclose accurately to Virgin Islands consumers the risks from these airbags.<\/p>\n

Given the health and safety issues involved and Takata\u2019s risky financial status, the Mr. Walker is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring Takata to set aside funds to ensure that Virgin Islands consumers can be made whole from the sale of these defective and potentially deadly vehicles.<\/p>\n

Currently, the Attorney General\u2019s Office is waiting for the defendants\u2019 replies to its lawsuit. However, as Mr. Walker noted, \u201caction to address the immediate risk to Honda drivers cannot await the resolution of the lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honda has promised that Virgin Islands consumers who cannot obtain immediate repairs will be able to use a loaner vehicle, or will be reimbursed for a rental car.<\/p>\n

Consumers who are told that their cars cannot be promptly repaired, or who are not given access to a substitute vehicle, should noti& the Attorney General\u2019s Office at (340) 774-5666 ext. 107 or 103.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Feature Image: A deployed airbag in a 2001 Honda Accord in a salvage yard in Medley, Fla.<\/span> Credit<\/span>Joe Raedle\/Getty Images<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. JOHN — Following an urgent plea by federal regulators on Thursday that airbags in more than 300,000 Honda and Acura vehicles were\u00a0at an unacceptably high risk of exploding, and should be replaced immediately, Attorney General Claude Walker on Friday asked Honda and Acura owners in the territory to stop driving the affected vehicles and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[228,11,12,191,2474,147],"tags":[570,2847,5366,5367,5368,121],"yoast_head":"\nV.I. Honda And Acura Owners Should Replace Airbags Immediately; A.G. Claude Walker Warns - V.I. Consortium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find Virgin Islands new, opinion, politics, lifestyle, business and more\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ernice Gilbert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677\",\"name\":\"V.I. Honda And Acura Owners Should Replace Airbags Immediately; A.G. Claude Walker Warns - V.I. Consortium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-02T11:36:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-07-02T11:36:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51\"},\"description\":\"Find Virgin Islands new, opinion, politics, lifestyle, business and more\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"V.I. Honda And Acura Owners Should Replace Airbags Immediately; A.G. Claude Walker Warns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/\",\"name\":\"V.I. Consortium\",\"description\":\"Uniting the Caribbean\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51\",\"name\":\"Ernice Gilbert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ernice Gilbert\"},\"description\":\"I wear many hats, I suppose, but the one which fits me best would be journalism, second to that would be radio personality, thirdly singer\/songwriter and down the line. I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"V.I. Honda And Acura Owners Should Replace Airbags Immediately; A.G. Claude Walker Warns - V.I. Consortium","description":"Find Virgin Islands new, opinion, politics, lifestyle, business and more","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ernice Gilbert","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677","url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677","name":"V.I. Honda And Acura Owners Should Replace Airbags Immediately; A.G. Claude Walker Warns - V.I. Consortium","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-07-02T11:36:48+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-02T11:36:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51"},"description":"Find Virgin Islands new, opinion, politics, lifestyle, business and more","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=41677#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"V.I. Honda And Acura Owners Should Replace Airbags Immediately; A.G. Claude Walker Warns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/","name":"V.I. Consortium","description":"Uniting the Caribbean","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51","name":"Ernice Gilbert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ernice Gilbert"},"description":"I wear many hats, I suppose, but the one which fits me best would be journalism, second to that would be radio personality, thirdly singer\/songwriter and down the line. I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/"],"url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41677"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}