Recalled Takata Airbags Reaches a Staggering 57.5 Million

After Honda announced in early July 2015 a 4.5 million-vehicle recall in cars and trucks equipped with Takata-made airbags, the total number of vehicles with faulty airbag inflators has ballooned to over 57.5 million worldwide. The defective inflators are prone to causing airbags to spontaneously explode, spewing metal shrapnel into the vehicle at random, and have already claimed at least 8 lives and 100 injuries. The Japanese auto parts maker has bumped up its production of replacement parts—doubling production and enlisting other manufacturers to aid in the effort—however NHTSA estimates that it may take 2.5 years before all recalled vehicles are fixed, leaving potentially deadly cars on the road.