RTMC says 1-million vehicles must be checked as part of recall campaign

by womenonwheels

January 25, 2021

RTMC says 1-million vehicles must be checked as part of recall campaign

The Department of Transport and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) announced on Saturday, January 23 that it is running a vehicle recall campaign on behalf of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA).

Thousands of motorists received messages informing them that their vehicles have been identified as part of a safety recall campaign.

“You will be contacted by the manufacturer who will provide you with an appointment to visit their service centre,” read the message – The RTMC shared a version of it to their social media pages in order to assure the public that the message is legitimate and not an elaborate scam.

The recall is related to the Takata Airbag issue and approximately one million vehicles must be checked, according to the RTMC.

Simon Zwane, RTMC’s chief communication officer, told eNCA that South Africa’s recall campaign started in 2017.

“Letters were sent to various owners, urging them to bring vehicles in but we realised that not all vehicle owners received the messages,” said Zwane.

“We want to reach as many motorists as possible. We are getting involved in the campaign now because as the RTMC we are concerned about road safety. If the airbags explode they can cause injuries to drivers and vehicle occupants.”

The RTMC is working alongside NAAMSA in order to reach as many citizens as possible, according to Zwane.

A cursory search reveals that individual manufacturers, such as Toyota, Ford and Nissan, have been issuing notices of recalls over the last few years.

It is recommended that owners check if their vehicle is affected by the recall by using their vehicle identification number.

Although it is a rare occurrence, the defect can lead to airbag inflators rupturing and propelling deadly metal fragments.

At least 27 deaths and 400 injuries have occurred across the world, as a result of the faulty Takata inflators, according to Reuters.

The defect resulted in the largest vehicle recall in American history.

“Approximately 67 million Takata air bags (priority groups 1-12) have been recalled because these air bags can explode when deployed, causing serious injury or even death,” said the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The authority warned that certain 2001-2003 Honda, 2006 Ford Ranger and Mazda B-Series vehicles are at “far higher risk for an air bag explosion that could injure or kill vehicle occupants.”

Approximately 100-million inflators from 19 major vehicle manufacturers across the world have been recalled, according to Reuters.

The NHTSA ordered Ford to issue a recall for driver-side airbag inflators on Tuesday, January 19. It rejected the manufacturer’s 2017 petition to avoid the recall.

On Thursday, Ford acquiesced and said it would recall three million vehicles at a cost of $610-million (about R9.3-billion).

Picture: Wikimedia Commons