Ford And Mazda's 'Do Not Drive' Warning On Recalled Takata Air Bags: What You Need To Know

Ford Motor Company F and Mazda Motor Corp. MZDAF North American Operations have issued urgent “Do Not Drive” alerts for over 457,000 vehicles with unrepaired Takata airbags.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a release that this “Do Not Drive” warning applies to all unrepaired, recalled Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, and Mazda vehicles fitted with non-desiccated Takata airbags.

Around 765,600 airbag inflators in Ford and Lincoln vehicles are affected worldwide, including 374,300 in the U.S. Ford has made over 121 million outreach efforts in the U.S. through letters, emails, phone calls, text messages, and over 1 million home visits to inform customers about these recalls, Ford said in a statement.

Consequently, 95% of U.S. customers have addressed their Takata recalls.

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The advisory applies to customers who have not completed recalls 15S21, 17S42, and 19S01, affecting various Ford and Mazda vehicles with unrepaired Takata airbag inflators.

Mazda’s warning covers 82,893 model year 2003-2015 vehicles.

Some of these vehicles are now more than 20 years old, which increases the risk of an air bag rupturing in a crash. If an explosion occurs, it can severely injure or kill vehicle occupants, the NHTSA said. 

So far, the NHTSA has confirmed that defective Takata airbags have caused 27 fatalities in the U.S. Additionally, at least 400 people in the U.S. have been injured by these malfunctioning airbags.

Price Action: F shares are trading higher by 1.57% to $10.02 at last check Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Image via Shutterstock

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