April 30, 2019—The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit against Honda and Toyota.
The complaint alleges that the air bag systems in the class vehicles contain air bag control units (ACUs) which sense vehicle crashes and evaluate whether air bag deployment is necessary in the event of an impact.
The ACUs contain an electronic component – an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) – which monitors signals from other crash sensors located in the vehicles. The complaint further alleges that the ACUs in the class vehicles are experiencing electrical overstress due to harmful electrical signals, which can damage the ASIC and cause the ACUs to stop working. As a result, the proper air bag and supplemental restraints may not deploy during a crash.
Despite knowledge of the ACU defect, TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. and TRW Automotive U.S. LLC (collectively TRW) has continued to manufacture and sell the defective ACUs, resulting in numerous injuries and deaths. Further, the vehicle manufacturers have continued to equip the class vehicles with air bag systems containing the ACU defect and sell and lease the class vehicles, without disclosing the ACU defect and its corresponding safety risks to owners and lessees.
