VicRoads and NSW’s Road and Maritime Services are resisting calls to take cars off the road if their owners continue to ignore recall notices over the Takata airbag issue.

There are still an estimated 20,000 so-called “Alpha” airbags in Australian registered cars that have a one-in-two chance of spraying deadly shrapnel in the case of even a minor, low speed accident. About 1.4 million local cars also have Takata airbags that carry a lower risk of deploying dangerously.

But New South Wales and Victoria were this week still resisting calls to follow suit.

Roger Chao, VicRoads director road user and vehicle access, said the organisation was considering its options.

“Driver safety is paramount, and we take issues of vehicle safety very seriously.

“We are continuing to work closely with the ACCC and other States and Territories to assist manufacturers in contacting owners of affected vehicles, and are considering all options to ensure vehicles are safe on our roads,” he said.

It is believed the ACCC is waiting for car companies to exhaust all avenues of inquiry regarding the faulty airbags before asking the states and territories for more concrete assistance.

Source: Road safety authorities continue to baulk at fixing deadly airbag problem
1 Oct 2018