Miami

South Florida Victim of Exploding Airbag Reacts to Massive Recall

It's the largest recall in automotive history involving one of the biggest suppliers of safety equipment. And the dangers are real.

The Japanese company Takata said it was recalling airbags used in about 34 million vehicles worldwide, the company finally admitting that its products were defective.

The airbags can explode violently when they deploy sending shrapnel flying.

Claribel Nunez knows the danger all too well. She was terrorized by what happened to her while driving in Miami Gardens.

Nunez explains what happened when she got into a minor fender-bender in her white Honda Civic last year.

A piece of metal flew out and struck her forehead, coming an inch from her eye, she explained in Spanish.

She said she's not only physically scarred, but you're emotionally scarred because of what the airbag has done to her.

Nunez says every time she hits the brakes she feels nervous and its been a year since the accident.

She was lucky. Nunez sued, settled her case and lived to talk about it.

But the U.S. Government says at least five people in the U.S. have been killed by exploding airbags, including 18-year-old Ashley Parham.

Hundreds of others have been injured, like Brandi Brewer, who lost an eye.

"It just makes me angry... angry that this has been an ongoing problem and its still going on," Brewer said.

Victims' rights attorney, Jason Turchin was one of the first attorneys in South Florida to shed light on this national issue.

"It's shocking for companies to know that there's a danger to the public and not come forward. It's irresponsible," Turchin said.

Turchin says Takata recognizing there's a defect is one thing, but fixing the problem is another.

"We don't want this company to replace these defective airbags with more defective airbags and pass off this problem for another 10 years," he said.

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