All cars with “critical” defective Takata airbags to be refused registration in South Australia

Friday, 7 August 2020

All remaining cars fitted with a critical defective Takata type airbag inflator will now be refused registration in South Australia from Monday, 10 August until they are rectified, to ensure the safety of all road users.

The South Australian Registrar of Motor Vehicles is taking action to remove light vehicles fitted with critical defective Takata airbag inflators from the road network, as they are highly dangerous and can mis-deploy, causing death or serious injury.

In November 2018, the Registrar began refusing the registration of vehicles with the higher-priority ‘Alpha’ subset of defective Takata airbag inflators, in line with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) compulsory safety recall of the product.

From Monday, 10 August, the registration refusal will be extended to cover all remaining defective Takata airbag inflators classified as critical.

Affected owners should have already received notification from their vehicle manufacturer that their vehicle is under active recall for urgent repair, as required by the compulsory recall notice administered by ACCC.

The replacement airbag inflator is free, and the vehicle manufacturer must offer to arrange for your vehicle to be towed away or to send out a qualified technician (or some similar arrangement) so the owner does not have to drive it to a place of repair, to be rectified.

If your vehicle is fitted with a defective Takata airbag do not drive the vehicle. Contact your vehicle manufacturer immediately to have the airbag replaced.

The ACCC will be collating data from vehicle manufacturers on the recall status of affected vehicles, by Vehicle Identification Number, and providing this to the South Australian Registrar.

This will include data on critical vehicles that are outstanding for repair, and where the vehicle owner has received multiple recall notification attempts by the vehicle manufacturer, asking the consumer to contact them for repair.

Vehicle owners will be notified by the Registrar if their vehicle is identified as fitted with a critical defective Takata airbag inflator, giving them one calendar month to provide the required evidence that they have had the defective airbag on their vehicle replaced. The responsibility is on the registered vehicle owner to provide this evidence.

If no response is received after the specified timeframe, a Safety Recall Incident will be placed against the vehicle’s record. This incident flag will prevent the vehicle’s registration from being renewed until evidence is produced showing the airbag has been rectified.

Where necessary, the Registrar will issue a second notification to the vehicle owner, with their renewal notice, advising that their vehicle registration cannot be renewed until sufficient evidence of rectification has been supplied.

Under no circumstance will the Safety Recall Incident be lifted, unless suitable evidence is provided confirming a defective airbag has been replaced.

Please note this measure only affects approximately 300 vehicles that are currently registered in South Australia and fitted with a critical defective Takata airbag. There are approximately 8,600 unregistered vehicles in South Australia fitted with a critical defective Takata airbag, which will be prevented from being re-registered or renewed in future.

The recall timing is to have all affected Takata airbags replaced by 31 December 2020.

All vehicle owners should check to see if their vehicle is affected.

You can check if your vehicle is affected immediately via the website www.IsMyAirbagSafe.com.au or text the word ‘Takata’ to 0487 AIRBAG (0487 247 224).

For further information about the recall visit www.productsafety.gov.au