Jason Delgado
Attorney General Ashley Moody and 47 other state attorneys general reached an $85 million agreement with Honda on Monday over the company’s alleged cover-up of defective airbags.
Florida’s share of the $85 million agreement is about $4.7 million, Moody’s office said in an announcement.
Honda has also agreed to adopt and implement changes to prevent a repeated incident with defective airbags, according to the consent order. Those proposed terms, among others, include fail-safe features to protect passengers, parts tracking and improved record-keeping.
The agreement results from a multistate investigation into Honda and the Takata Corporation, the company that designed and manufactured the defective airbags. In a news release, Moody and the states allege Honda engineers were aware the inflator within an airbag could send shrapnel into a vehicle’s cabin when deployed.
Additionally, the states allege Honda deliberately delayed warning consumers and safety officials, and instead maintained the vehicles were safe.
Honda later recalled about 12.9 million vehicles possibly equipped with the defective airbags. To date, the defects have resulted in at least 14 deaths and more than 200 injuries in the U.S. alone.
“Floridians depend heavily on their motor vehicles in everyday life and should not be put in danger as a result of a defect from a manufacturer,” Moody said. “Due to Honda’s failure to properly ensure the complete safety of their vehicles and allegedly keeping important information from consumers, innocent lives were lost and hundreds more were injured. I commend my office and attorneys general across the nation for their work in securing the protections necessary to prevent tragedies like these in the future.”
Consumers who own a Honda or Acura are encouraged to check on the status of their airbag online. All safety recall repairs are free at authorized Honda dealers.
