The Department of Road Transport has issued an apology after mistakenly sending Takata airbag recall notices to the families of dead crash victims, citing data received from car companies as the source of the error.
The parents of Kyriacos Oxinos and Styliani Georgalli, who died in Cyprus due to faulty Takata airbag explosions, have received vehicle recall notices for their children’s crashed cars.
The department expressed regret for causing distress to the families of those who lost their lives in airbag-related incidents. “The Department of Road Transport would like to inform that airbag recall notices were issued based on information obtained from the companies, it said”. “It was with deep regret that it was noted that a message was sent to the families of the children who died. The Department of Road Transport is expressing its apologies,” it added.
Maria Loui, Kyriacos Oxinos’s mother, called the situation “unbelievable” in comments to Philenews. She questioned whether the Transport Minister and officials who made these decisions could guarantee the safety of drivers whose vehicles contain Takata airbags, referring to them as “time bombs” that could cause more deaths.
The Department of Road Transport launched an urgent recall campaign affecting approximately 82,000 vehicles with faulty airbags and brakes, giving owners eight months to complete necessary repairs or face vehicle registration suspension.
The Takata airbag defect, caused by a chemical component that can deteriorate in hot conditions, risks explosive deployment that could project metal fragments into vehicle cabins, potentially causing serious injury to occupants.
It is estimated that at least 27 deaths and hundreds of injuries worldwide have been attributed to the defective Takata airbags.
In Cyprus, at least three deaths have been linked to the faulty Takata airbags.
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