Honda to expand recall over explosive air bags to California

Honda Motor Co would expand to the state of California a US regional recall of vehicles over potentially explosive air bags made by Takata Corp, following a complaint of a driver sustaining injury in an accident in the state, Reuters reported.

The move would see the regional recall of the potentially faulty airbags move beyond hot and humid southern states, into the most populous state in the US which is also a major market for automakers.

The company decided on an expansion of the recall after it was told on 25 June about the accident that involved a 2005 model Accord that had taken place in California in May, a spokeswoman said.

According to a complaint filed with the US safety regulator the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the air bag in the car shot out "hot metal and plastic shrapnel" after a collision that happened at low speed, that left the driver with "severe burns, bruises and abrasions on her arms and legs".

According to the Honda spokeswoman, while the case did not match the areas that NHTSA had determined, Honda was adding California into the areas in which it was conducting a regional recall for speedy investigation of the cause.

It remained unclear as to how many vehicles would be recalled in California. The regional recall, saw Honda pull back certain vehicles including model years 2001-2007 Accord, 2001-2005 Civic and 2002-2006 CR-V.