How Long Should It Take to Admit to Product Defects?

That, of course, is a very different question from, "How Long Will It Take to Admit to Product Defects?"

About six months ago, I wrote (here) about the growing number of automotive recalls related to Takata airbags, involving millions of vehicles in the US and elsewhere. The first hints of problems arose more than a decade ago. At the time, Takata was still denying that its airbags were at fault.

If you haven't been following the issue: The propellant, designed to help the airbag inflate very fast in the event of a crash, can under certain circumstances degrade; when that happens, the airbag may inflate with too much force, rupturing steel canisters that hold the propellant, and spewing metal shards into the passenger compartment. To date, six deaths have been linked to the defect, and more than 100 injuries, many of them very serious.

Yesterday, at long last, Takata admitted that its airbags were defective. According to an article in today's The New York Times by Danielle Ivory and Hiroko Tabuchi, Takata has now agreed to a massive recall of nearly 34 million cars and light-duty trucks, "about one in seven of the more than 250 million vehicles on American roads". This recall is "the largest automotive recall in American history."

It shouldn't have taken this long to get here.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is "dedicated to achieving the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway safety" (according to its website, here), began  receiving complaints about airbag-caused injuries nearly 15 years ago. Ivory and Tabuchi report that, "in 2009, the agency opened an investigation into Takata and its airbags, only to close it six months later, citing 'insufficient evidence.'"

Oops.

Fortunately, the new NHTSA administrator "has shown greater assertiveness towards companies like Takata."

Evidence kept piling up, and Takata kept denying any problem. Finally,

in the face of mounting evidence, federal safety regulators in February began to fine Takata $14,000 a day because it had not cooperated fully in the agency's investigation. The company disputed the agency's assertions. With the expansion of the recall, though, regulators said they would suspend that fine, which had reach more than $1 million. It is unclear if it will be collected.

So is your car one of the "lucky" ones? It's not clear. Ten automakers (BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Pontiac, Subaru, and Toyota) have already recalled 14 million vehicles due to the defect. The agency had posted a list on its website of the relevant models, but Ivory and Tabuchi report that

...[NHTSA] would not know exactly which models of cars would be recalled until it coordinated with automakers, which could be several days. The final number may change as more tests are performed....

Of concern to most motorists is that a recall of 1 in 7 vehicles now on the road obviously can't be done all at once.

It could in fact take several years; NHTSA recommends that owners continue to drive their cars in the interim.

At the risk of repeating myself yet again: If people are dying because of your product, you should really do something to fix the problem. Sweeping it under the rug will not make it go away.