Toyota is recalling 427 model year 2011 Toyota RAV4 vehicles manufactured from November 24, 2011 through December 19, 2011. In the curtain shield airbags, propellant with the incorrect specification was used for the initiator assembled in the airbag inflator. In this condition, the inflator may not perform properly, causing one or both curtain shield airbags to not deploy. In the event of a crash, the airbags may not deploy and will not be able to properly protect an occupant, increasing the risk of injuries. The safety recall is expected to begin early March 2012. 12V-029.

Toyota is recalling 1,309 certain model year 2010 Toyota Corolla vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, “Occupant Crash Protection.” The air bag label installed on the driver side sun visor can separate from the surface of the visor. This does not meet the standard requirements. The recall is expected to begin on or before October 15, 2009. 09V-332.

Though some might think this is not that important because it’s “just a label”, I believe it is important in two ways. First, the law requires the air bag label to be there for a reason – to communicate important safety information to consumers. Second, this is just the latest in a series of quality setbacks for Toyota. Car companies routinely install this label on millions of vehicles a year without any such problems. If Toyota’s quality department can’t even ensure their air bag labels stick, can you really trust them to ensure the highly technical aspects of their air bag systems are working appropriately??

Toyota is recalling 133 model year 2004-2006 Lexus LS, 2006 Lexus GS, 2006 Lexus IS, 2004-2006 Toyota Prius, 2005 Toyota RAV4, 2005-2006 Toyota Tacoma, 2005-2006 Scion TC, 2005-2006 Toyota Avalon and 2007 Toyota Camry vehicles. On certain vehicles, due to improper assembly of the air bag inflator, which is used in the side air bag, the curtain shield air bag, and the knee air bag assembly, some inflators were produced with an insufficient amount of the heating agents necessary for proper air bag deployment.

In this condition, the expansion force of the gas may be insufficient to properly inflate the air bag when the SRS system is activated during a crash. This may increase the risk of injury to the occupant in the involved seating position in the event of a crash. Dealers will replace the specific SRS air bag. The recall began on April 6, 2006. 06V-096.

This is yet another recall that indicates that Toyota’s quality control measures were inadequate for such a critical safety component.  Simply put, safety related parts like air bag should never be shipped from the manufacturing facility if they do not meet specifications.  That is the whole purpose of a quality control program: to ensure defective parts never make it to the consumer.  Obviously, the quality control system failed, unnecessarily exposing Toyota customers to the risk of serious injury or death.

Our client was a properly seat-belted passenger in a 1997 Toyota Camry that was struck by another car that turned into her path. Despite the modest crash speed, the air bags deployed. The deploying passenger air bag slammed into the passenger’s face, causing significant facial injuries and permanently blinding her.

I used independent experts to test the Camry passenger air bag. That testing documented that the air bag generally deployed at speeds approaching 250 mph. However, quality control issues could raise the deployment speed to over 400 mph! These speeds are well over the industry standard for limiting the risk of eye injuries from deploying air bags.

Toyota Camry Airbag Hitting Passenger Face