A lawsuit filed in California blames American Honda for the death of a young doctor in the Cayman Islands. The suit was filed by the family of the 28-year-old recent med school grad after she was killed in a crash in her 2008 Honda Fit.
According to the suit, she was killed by metal shrapnel from the recalled Takata airbag installed in the car. It accuses Honda of a “lackadaisical” recall effort in the Caribbean when compared with the steps taken in the US to address the wide-ranging airbag recall.
Death One Of Many In A Massive Global Recall
The Takata airbag recall is one of the widest-ranging and highest-impact automotive safety recalls of all time. Starting in April 2013, more than 100 million airbag inflators have been recalled in vehicles from nearly every major auto manufacturer. The affected airbags were used in vehicles from as far back as 1996, and have been installed in vehicles through 2019 or even more recently. Some models were even recalled more than once, as updated inflators were not available initially.
According to recall documents, the defective airbags used a chemical inflator that could break down over time, especially in high humidity. They could then blow apart instead of inflating properly, firing shrapnel into the vehicle. At least 28 deaths have been linked to the airbags in the U.S., along with hundreds of injuries.
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Honda was one of the automakers most widely affected. Its most popular models were affected, including the 2001-2012 Accord, 2001-2011 Civic, and 2007-2014 Honda Fit.
The 2008 Honda Fit driven by Dr. Amber Martinez was one of those recalled vehicles. She was killed in a crash in October 2022. John Morgan, attorney with the firm representing the family in this suit, said that “Honda did not start recalling them until 2013. If they had acknowledged the problem earlier and taken the appropriate steps right away, we believe Dr. Martinez would still be with us.”
Suit Alleges Honda’s Extensive Recall Efforts Didn’t Happen In The Caribbean
In the suit, the plaintiffs allege that the independent repair facility where Martinez had her Fit serviced every year was not informed of the recall. The suit acknowledges that Honda engaged in an extensive campaign to notify owners in the U.S., including using social media and direct marketing. Honda used billboards and even sent specially created comics to customers in the U.S. As part of its massive effort in the U.S. to notify owners, American Honda contacted more than 160,000 independent auto shops.
But the suit alleges that American Honda did not follow through with those steps in the Caribbean, including the Cayman Islands. The suit claims that “American Honda’s decision to spend less time and effort in effectuating the Takata recall in the Cayman Islands than it did while simultaneously overseeing the same recall in the U.S.” led to the death.
“We believe that one phone call might have saved Dr. Martinez’s life,” said attorney Andrew Parker Felix. “The allegedly lackadaisical recall effort Honda carried out in the Caribbean contributed to the untimely and preventable death of a 28-year-old physician.”
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The suit alleges that “American Honda worked hard with other corporate entities in the Honda family and the airbag supplier, Takata, to conceal the defect via confidential settlements and willful disregard of mandatory government safety reporting requirements.”
Hondacayman.com, the company’s website for its Cayman Island operations, does include a large banner advising customers to check their vehicle for recalls. Including a note that indicates some models from 1996-2016 are affected. The banner includes a frightening warning image of an exploding airbag, and a similar message has been on the company’s website since at least 2017.
While Honda sells a different model range in the Caribbean than in the U.S., including right-hand drive models, it is under the umbrella of American Honda, as indicated by the company’s site.
We have reached out to Honda for a statement on the suit and to learn more about its recall actions outside of the U.S. We will update this story with a response. The claims in the suit have not yet been heard in court.
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