AKEL MEP George Georgiou has raised the Takata airbag scandal to the European Commission as an urgent matter, highlighting what he described as government negligence in Cyprus that has left thousands of vehicles with potentially deadly airbags on the roads.
Georgiou informed the Commission that certain vehicle manufacturers’ representatives in Cyprus, whose vehicles make up most of the recalled cars, are “indirectly passing on repair costs by charging fees for mandatory diagnostic checks required before airbag replacement.”
Despite 57 warnings from the EU and recommendations from the Commission to member states, “the Cyprus government has still not complied with the relevant regulation” and hasn’t taken necessary corrective or restrictive measures as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/858, Article 53, according to the MEP’s statement.
Approximately 56,000 vehicles are circulating on Cyprus roads with potentially defective airbags that, according to experts, can deploy even without an accident due to a chemical element that may activate the airbag’s detonation mechanism.
“Cyprus has already recorded two deaths of young children and another serious injury,” the statement noted.
The regulation stipulates that national authorities must implement adequate corrective measures and that the cost of repairing defective airbags should not be borne by vehicle owners.
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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