1994 Honda Civic Del Sol S Coupe 2-door 1.5l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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.

10 automakers sued over keyless ignitions

Keyless ignition has rapidly proliferated throughout the auto industry to become a fairly normal feature on new cars. It's supposed to offer the convenience of keeping the fob in your pocket and just pressing a button to drive away. However, ten major automakers are now being sued in US District Court over claims that the system is dangerous, Reuters reports. The suit alleges that people are forgetting to shut off the engine, and the lack of an idle timer is the cause for 13 deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning and multiple injuries. The suit currently includes 28 plaintiffs, according to Reuters, but the lawyers are asking for class-action status to potentially add many more. The case goes after a major swath of the industry, including BMW, Daimler, FCA, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, plus their related brands like Acura, Infiniti, Mini, and Lexus. In all, over five million vehicles are affected. The assertion here is that people walk away from their vehicle without shutting it off because they believe the engine shuts off automatically. If parked in a garage, carbon monoxide can build up, leading to poisoning. The lawyers claim automakers know this is a problem and also cite 27 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the issue, according to Reuters. The plaintiffs are asking for an automatic shut-off and damages from the companies. These concerns have come up before, though. Toyota previously faced a lawsuit over a carbon monoxide death after a woman accidentally left her Lexus running. Also earlier this year, GM recalled 64,186 examples of the 2011-2013 Chevrolet Volt because owners weren't shutting them off. The problem resulted in two injuries, and the company released a software update to limit the idling time.

2016 Honda Pilot earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ score

The 2016 Honda Pilot earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating after tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The crossover scored the agency's top Good score in all five evaluations, including the often tricky small-overlap frontal crash. The latest results give the 2016 Pilot the highest possible results from both NCAP and IIHS. In the small-overlap frontal crash, there were only four inches of intrusion in the passenger compartment, and the airbags did their job of protecting the dummy's head. Sensors showed a low risk of significant injuries. In comparison, the IIHS gave the 2015 Pilot Good scores in four tests, but the CUV had a Poor rating, the agency's lowest, in the small-overlap test. The optional Honda Sensing suite of safety functions put the Pilot over the top for the + score, and the tech earned a superior rating from the IIHS. The system combines a windshield-mounted camera and radar behind the grille and is available on the EX trim and above. It includes collision mitigating braking, a forward collision warning, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and road departure mitigation. Related Video: All-new 2016 Honda Pilot Earns a 2015 TOP SAFETY PICK+ Rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Aug 21, 2015 - TORRANCE, Calif. 2016 Pilot offers the most comprehensive set of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies ever available on a Honda vehicle Available Honda Sensing™ suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies combines camera and radar systems to help detect vehicles, pedestrians and roadway markings Honda's aims to reduce collisions, injuries and fatalities involving its vehicles, using Honda Sensing™ technology The fully redesigned 2016 Honda Pilot (automobiles.honda.com/pilot/) has received a 2015 TOP SAFETY PICK+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) when equipped with optional front crash prevention, bringing Honda one step closer to fulfilling the company's goal to be the first three-row mainstream SUV with the highest available U.S. government (NCAP) and IIHS safety ratings. This IIHS distinction includes a top rating of GOOD in five IIHS crash test modes including a top score of GOOD in the Insurance Institute's stringent small overlap frontal crash test.