Australia Takes Mercedes To Court

 

CREDIT: Angus Martin/drivetribe.com

Australia has filed a court against Mercedes-Benz over the clause that the car company "downplayed" all risks involved with using the Takata airbags.

These airbags are defective. When defective, they can be seriously dangerous and lead to a rupture in the inflator and cause deadly metal fragments flying.

These airbags have been concluded to have affected 100 million vehicles.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recall Mercedes-Benz staff telling customers it was "okay" to operate vehicles over six years old. 

This recall was precautionary relating to no major incidents.

Because of said downplay, consumers are now at risk of potentially deadly injury or death.

"These alleged representations used language which was inconsistent with the requirements of the compulsory recall notice."

Australian voluntary recalls began in 2009 and were made compulsory in 2018. Four million defective airbags were identified for replacement after a car accident. It also led to one death in Sydney.

Germany's Daimler AG, the parent of Mercedes-Benz, had no vehicles fitted with Takata 'Alpha' airbags that had been identified as high risk.

Since its vehicles were fitted with 'Beta' airbags "the recall process overseen by the ACCC did not require affected Mercedes-Benz vehicles to be off the road or owners to cease driving them until the repair was undertaken."

The ACCC said its recall related to both 'Alpha' and 'Beta' airbags. It cited the death of a Sydney man and a driver who was seriously injured due to 'Beta' airbags.

Daimler has quoted 97.7% of affected airbags have been replaced to date. It has also stated its cooperation with the ACCC during the investigation.

It made improvements to internal systems and call centre operations in order to address concerns.