Does insurance cover a car you are told not to drive?

[ericmark]

Citroen owners left stranded over airbag safety risk never seen this before, where you can't even drive the car to the dealer to get if fixed. Lucky it does not affect me, Takata who made the airbags went to the wall in 2017, but not many people can park up their car and not use it for months, so what happens next?

 

[cdbe]

I saw this the other day, I expected someone in authority in our country to step in Ha Ha.

It seems there's a voluntary goodwill scheme:

 

[Avocet]

I work in the car industry and I've never seen anything like this! The Takata airbag problem has been around for years now, (my wife's late 2006 Nissan was subject to one of the earlier recalls - that's going back almost a decade now)! I have absolutely no idea how this is going to get resolved. It seems that Takata used ammonium nitrate as the explosive in their airbags, and this goes unstable when exposed to moisture. The first recall, I gather, was to put bags of silica gel into the airbag enclosure to keep it dry. However, (and particularly in damp climates like ours), this ended up getting exhausted quite quickly. The next recall, involved complete replacement, but then Takata went bust! I have no idea how the problem is going to be resolved now. There isn't enough spare capacity among the remaining airbag manufacturers, to take up the slack and replace all these quickly. Moreover, the labour costs involved, would exceed the value of some of the older cars that are affected.

I imagine that there will now be another "class action" for the compo lawyers to get rich from. If they can make a living out of getting people compensation for the mental trauma caused by the shock of realising their VW diesel emissions were a bit dirtier than advertised, I daresay they will have an absolute field day over a case where people genuinely can't use their cars!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I imagine that there will now be another "class action" for the compo lawyers to get rich from. If they can make a living out of getting people compensation for the mental trauma caused by the shock of realising their VW diesel emissions were a bit dirtier than advertised, I daresay they will have an absolute field day over a case where people genuinely can't use their cars!

The class actions, only seem to make no risk money, for the legal companies. Look at the mess caused from cavity wall insulation claims, where the 'no risk to the customers', has ended up with them being presented with massive bills, and no compensation. They advertise no risk, no cost, on the TV - but that's not quite the entire story.

 

[Koolpc]

Asda are now replacing the airbags with 'bags for life'...

 

[Avocet]

The class actions, only seem to make no risk money, for the legal companies. Look at the mess caused from cavity wall insulation claims, where the 'no risk to the customers', has ended up with them being presented with massive bills, and no compensation. They advertise no risk, no cost, on the TV - but that's not quite the entire story.

Yes, I absolutely agree. These legal firms are the spawn of Satan himself, and primarily exist to feather their own nests, rather than anyone who might have been wronged. However, I'd hope that the mere threat of their possible intervention might at least "encourage" car manufacturers to make more reasonable offers to their customers in cases like this?

 

[john4703]

Do youy legally need an air bag? As far as I know you have to wear a seat belt but air bags are not a legal requirement. If I am correct it should not take long to remove the air bags from an affected car.

 

[Mottie]

Do youy legally need an air bag? As far as I know you have to wear a seat belt but air bags are not a legal requirement. If I am correct it should not take long to remove the air bags from an affected car.

You need one, present and working, to pass the MOT if it was fitted as original equipment.

 

[Avocet]

You need one, present and working, to pass the MOT if it was fitted as original equipment.

View attachment 387097

There must be more to that than meets the eye, because there are disabled people out there who drive cars with airbags removed / disabled. I think (like not wearing a seat belt) you need a medical exemption certificate, but there must be a way of allowing it?

 

[Mottie]

There must be more to that than meets the eye, because there are disabled people out there who drive cars with airbags removed / disabled. I think (like not wearing a seat belt) you need a medical exemption certificate, but there must be a way of allowing it?

Seat belts might not have to be worn under a medical exemption but they must be present and working for the mot test. There are no provision or exemptions for airbag removal/disabling in the test procedure. Maybe they drive cars under the mobility scheme which are under three years old so do not come under the mot test rules? Mot test rules and construction and use rules are different. What might pass an mot test may be an offence under the C&U act and vice versa.

 

[foxhole]

Seat belts might not have to be worn under a medical exemption but they must be present and working for the mot test. There are no provision or exemptions for airbag removal/disabling in the test procedure. Maybe they drive cars under the mobility scheme which are under three years old so do not come under the mot test rules? Mot test rules and construction and use rules are different. What might pass a mot test may be an offence under the C&U act and vice versa.

But your previous post states they can be switched off ( not in use). During test.

 

[Avocet]

Seat belts might not have to be worn under a medical exemption but they must be present and working for the mot test. There are no provision or exemptions for airbag removal/disabling in the test procedure. Maybe they drive cars under the mobility scheme which are under three years old so do not come under the mot test rules? Mot test rules and construction and use rules are different. What might pass an mot test may be an offence under the C&U act and vice versa.

No it won't be the latter, as Motability leases (certainly on wheelchair accessible vehicles) are 5 years. There's no specific offence under C&U either, but Reg 100 within C&U is a catch-all that forbids anything "dangerous" in or on the vehicle. I guess it would then be down to the courts to decide whether disabling the airbag was "dangerous" on a case-by-case basis?

 

[aveatry]

Maybe some sort of emergency legislation to allow the temporary disablement of the airbag so that the car can be driven until the replacement is carried out. But then - heh I brought that car because of its NCAP rating so I want compensation for every day that I drive without the airbag activated until it is replaced.
Or sign a disclaimer that you wont sue if the airbag explodes and kills you in the event of a little bump.
Is there any kind of priority for disabled drivers or essential workers and what about taxi drivers --- what a mess.

 

[Mottie]

But your previous post states they can be switched off ( not in use). During test.

Passenger airbag only, not drivers. That has to be able to be switched off for when you have a rear facing kiddie seat on the passenger seat. The mot regs clearly state that if it’s fitted, it must be working. I suspect VOSA will bring out a special notice to exempt certain vehicles.

 

[Avocet]

Maybe some sort of emergency legislation to allow the temporary disablement of the airbag so that the car can be driven until the replacement is carried out. But then - heh I brought that car because of its NCAP rating so I want compensation for every day that I drive without the airbag activated until it is replaced.
Or sign a disclaimer that you wont sue if the airbag explodes and kills you in the event of a little bump.
Is there any kind of priority for disabled drivers or essential workers and what about taxi drivers --- what a mess.

It certainly is an absolute huge mess! I've never seen anything like this. No point in a special bit of legislation as that would take months to get through Parliament. Citroen say they are prioritising courtesy cars for those with the greatest need (whatever that means)!