ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite one of the nation's largest recalls, a Central Florida family says the airbag company Takata has not taken responsibility for a woman's death.
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"Takata has agreed to declare that their airbag inflators are defective," Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said Tuesday.
The world's largest airbag maker has claimed responsibility for three out of five deaths associated with its faulty airbags, but no apology has come for Hien Tran's family.
She died last fall in Orlando when her Takata airbag exploded, sending shrapnel into her neck.
"I can tell you that in our case, Takata has refused to admit that their airbag killed Ms. Tran," said the family's attorney, Henry Didier, Jr. "They're fighting us in court and not admitting it even caused her death. So, you get the public statements, 'This is defective,' the public letter from Takata admitting five deaths and, 'How sorry we are,' but they're dragging this family through litigation needlessly."
Getting that apology in court may not be easy.
Until now, Takata has refused to announce its airbags are defective. Under pressure from federal authorities and after more than $1 million in fines, the company has now doubled the recall to 34 million airbags, making it the largest recall in the nation's history.
"Admitting defect publicly today was important for the safety of these people driving these cars, but we still have the work of proving that in court for the people who have already been hurt," said Didier.
The Tran family and its attorney have a federal mediation with Takata later this week.