Takata Airbag Settlement Reached After Victim Left a Quadriplegic

Jacksonville, FLPatricia Mincey was enjoying a relatively happy retirement in 2014, when Takata airbag injuries

suddenly left her a quadriplegic at the age of 75, reduced to breathing with the aid of a ventilator. She lived for two years in that state, before passing away earlier this year.

A Takata airbag failure lawsuit alleged it was the recalled Takata airbag in Mincey’s 2001 Honda Civic that was responsible for the victim’s airbag injuries and ultimately, her death.

According to CNNMoney (7/15/16) the Takata airbag in Mincey’s car had been subject to an airbag recall and had been replaced five years prior to her accident. Four days after Mincey sustained airbag injuries, a subsequent airbag recall was issued for the Takata airbag(s) in the victim’s car.

The CNNMoney report noted that most of the 8.9 million Takata airbags that were subject to the initial airbag recall will have to be replaced a second time. What’s more, said Ted Leopold, the airbag attorney retained by the family for their airbag failure lawsuit, even new vehicles now being manufactured with new Takata airbags will have to be recalled eventually, he said.

The CNNMoney report noted that it could take until 2019 for all the flawed Takata airbags to be replaced, due to the limited supply of airbags.

Mincey’s 2014 accident left her with a broken vertebrae in her neck, allegedly caused by airbag failure. Her airbag lawsuit was one of the earliest airbag lawsuits, according to the CNNMoney report. Earlier this month the two sides had been scheduled to appear at a hearing in state court in Jacksonville with regard to Mincey’s motion for punitive damages, as well as to hear arguments in support of compelling the CEO of Takata to testify.

In the end, however, the two sides arrived at a mutually-agreeable settlement before the hearing was scheduled to begin. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. A statement from Takata suggested, simply, that “the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.” There was no further elaboration.

Airbags were originally designed to augment lap and shoulder belts, and to help further protect occupants in the event of a crash. Modern cars - even small cars - are now equipped with a collection of airbags, including side curtain airbags. It’s not uncommon for a vehicle to come equipped with 10 airbags or more.

Defective airbags have left drivers and their passengers with a host of sometimes horrific injuries to their neck, face - even their eyes. In this way, technology that was meant to help has been found to hurt. Some ten deaths in the US are alleged to have been caused by, or linked to Takata airbag failure.