Texas teen latest to be killed by defective Takata air bag
RICHMOND, Texas --Federal regulators have confirmed another death in the United States froma defective air bag made by the Japanese company Takata. A teenage driver was killed last week in Richmond, Texas.
Deputy Dan Beckworth told CBS News a shard of metal killed 17-year-old high school senior Huma Hanif.
"This is the actual airbag and the hole where the metal came through," Beckworth demonstrated.
"Almost like a shotgun blast penetrating and unfortunately this piece struck Huma in the back and took her life. Sad, tragic," Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls said.
Nehls said a faulty inflator caused the Takata airbag to explode.
"Huma, after the crash, she was able to take her seatbelt off, and then she collapsed," Nehls told CBS News.
The sheriff said Huma's car was only moving at 15 miles per hour when it crashed.
"We see crashes like this each and every day," Nehls said. "She should have walked away from this with very few injuries."
Huma's death is the tenth to be linked to defective air bag inflators. Takata has been under intense scrutiny since last summer to fix the problem.
It's led to the largest and most complex safety recall in history. So far 14 automakers have recalled 28 million airbags. But only seven-and-a-half million airbags have been repaired.
The national online recall database shows that Huma's car -- a 2002 Honda Civic -- was recalled in 2011. Honda said it filed "multiple" notifications.
But her family said they never received any notice.
"I wish we would have received a notice from Honda so we could have avoided this tragedy," her 24-year-old brother Faizan Hanif said.
Huma wanted to be a nurse. The night before she died her brother said she was filling out application forms for college.
A cell phone was found in the cup holder of the car, convincing the sheriff Huma was not distracted while driving.