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Honda audit says Takata manipulated airbag inflator data

Takata is already feeling the pressure of being tied up in the automotive industry's largest recall ever, which affects millions of vehicles worldwide, but an ongoing audit by Honda recently revealed that engineers manipulated airbag inflator test results. According to a report by Reuters, the audit found widespread manipulation of test results, but showed no safety risks for vehicles that were not involved in the recall. The audit, which Honda claims started last October, examined Takata-made airbag inflators and was led by former IIHS president Brian O'Neil. According to Automotive News, O'Neil found that Takata engineers had removed test results to make airbag inflator performance more favorable. In an interview with Automotive News, O'Neil stated that the audit results indicated that engineers selectively edited results to make the reports, which were given to Honda, shorter and prettier from the supplier's standpoint. So far, the automaker has received preliminary information from the first phase of the audit, with Honda and US regulators getting a full report later this week. There's no word on how much Takata will have to pay to fix the faulty airbag inflators, but some automakers have decided to drop the supplier for another source. The New York Times also reports that Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada would be stepping down after the company becomes stable. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Automotive News-sub.req., Reuters, The New York TimesImage Credit: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Government/Legal Recalls Honda Safety Takata airbag recall

Lawsuit reveals gruesome details of Takata airbag victim's death

The accident was minor. The aftermath was horrific. Carlos Solis was waiting to turn left into a Houston-area apartment complex on January 28 when oncoming traffic struck the front-left corner of his 2002 Honda Accord, pictured above. He was stopped, according to a police report of the accident. The other car traveled at under 30 miles per hour. He should have walked away from the fender-bender. Instead, the 35-year-old married man was killed when a defective airbag exploded and sent a large piece of metal shrapnel into his neck, his estate's lawyers allege in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Harris County, Texas. He bled to death while his younger brother and an 11-year-old cousin tried to save him. Solis is one of at least six motorists killed by defective airbags made by Takata, a global automotive supplier. He may also be a posthumous poster child for federal legislation introduced earlier this week that would ensure car owners receive more timely information about safety recalls. Currently, federal law does not require car dealers to tell prospective buyers about open recalls on used cars or whether defects have been repaired. Legislation introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wouldn't require that directly of dealerships, but it would mandate that car owners be notified of recalls when they apply for registration and at the time of registration renewal. "Important recall notices can get bogged down with legalese, and busy consumers can miss a life-saving update," Blumenthal said. "This legislation provides a common-sense avenue to ensure every driver is reminded and encouraged to make the necessary repairs." Such a law may have prevented Solis' death. Although his '02 Accord had been recalled in late 2011, his wife and lawyers say he had no knowledge of the recall when he bought the car used from All Star Auto Sales in 2014, nor did he know of the dangerous flaw when he set out to visit his parents on Jan. 18. Only one month earlier, Congress held hearings on Takata and Honda's long-standing inaction related to the defective airbags. Documents showed both companies were aware of problems with the airbags as early as 2004, and a report in The New York Times detailed secret airbag tests, the results of which alarmed Takata engineers. Yet the company withheld the information from federal safety administrators.

Fire up your 3D printer! Honda releases data for several of its past concepts [w/video]

Futurists have been treating 3D printing like it is the second coming of the Industrial Revolution for years. Everyone will have a 3D printer in their garage and be able make practically anything at home before you know it, right? Well... not quite.
While we can imagine a piece of trim breaking on our car and being able to download the file to print a new one at home, the reality is that 3D printing is still in its earliest stages as a consumer device. Still, Honda is capitalizing on the technology by allowing people to make models of its concept cars at home.
The Honda 3D Design Archive currently consists of five models based on the Fuya-Jo, FSR, Kiwami, Puyo, and NSX concepts. The printer files can be downloaded from the web and carry Creative Commons 4.0 licenses, which allow them to be freely shared. Honda promises that more files will be added to the archive soon.