Former Malaysian Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad said the Government had to look at ways to stop another death due to faulty airbags which have killed four people in Malaysia so far.
He asked which Government agency was responsible for ensuring that Malaysia does not lose another driver to faulty airbags.
“Under which ministry is it? Is it under the Transport Ministry, Consumer Affairs, Sirim (Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia)? There are so many ministries, but which of these is responsible?” he questioned.
He said someone had to be enforcing the standards on airbags in Malaysia.
“We have had four deaths so far in Malaysia due to Takata airbags. Why hasn’t any ministry come forward to say ‘let us stop the resale of cars with Takata airbags until the problem is stopped’?” he said.
He said the Government should not be afraid if Honda pulled its investment from Malaysia.
“This is about lives. Stern action needs to be taken. We should not just leave it to the car manufacturer.”
He was responding to the fourth death involving Honda’s Takata single stage driver’s airbag inflator that ruptured in an accident involving a Honda City in Kota Damansara on Sunday leading to the death of driver Norazlin Haron.
Consumers’ Association of Penang President S M Idris said the Government must play a role in the recall exercise, and not just wait for companies to act on their own.
“Recalls cannot be optional or voluntary. They must be mandatory and must be overseen and enforced by the authorities,” he said, adding that there should be only one agency to oversee the entire recall issue.
He said the Government should come up with a mechanism to ensure that car companies had gone all out to recall their cars, and if they did not, take action against them.
Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) President Nadzim Johan said there should be an agency to look into recalls and ensure all recalled vehicles were sent back to the manufacturer for defects to be fixed.
This is important as vehicle defects can affect not only the driver, but also other passengers in the car and other road users.
The issue of recalls cannot be left alone to manufacturers and vehicle owners. There must be some form of supervision by a third party, and this should come from the authorities.
“What happens if a car with a defect is sold to another person, and the latter does not know whether the defect has been fixed?
“How would the second-hand car owner know if the manufacturer had fixed the defect in their car when there is no direct link between the second-hand car owner and manufacturer?”
Nadzim said the Road Transport Department, or Puspakom, could keep a registry of cars which needed to be recalled and enforce the recall exercise.
Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) President Aishah Ahmad said the association was in the midst of getting a whole list of car owners in Malaysia.
She said the association had requested the Road Transport Department to share its database with MAA to reach out to owners during recalls.
“When there is a recall, we could do follow-ups with car owners if they have sent their cars for inspection,” she said.