Ministry: No road tax renewal for vehicles yet to replace faulty Takata airbags

KUALA LUMPUR: Vehicle owners affected by the recall of faulty Takata airbags will not be able to renew their road tax until a replacement has been made, said Anthony Loke Siew Fook (pic).

The Transport Minister said the new directive will take effect next Monday (June 4), adding that all affected vehicle owners must obtain a certificate from their respective car dealership to prove that they have changed their airbags.

Loke said that car companies involved in the global mandatory recall of Takata airbags must submit a list of vehicles which haven't replace their airbags to the Road Transport Department (JPJ).

"We will input the list of all vehicles that have not changed their airbags into our system. I have also directed JPJ not to renew the road tax of these vehicles unless they replaced their airbags.

"I will also ask car companies to come up with a certification to verify that the airbags have been changed. JPJ will not renew the road taxes of these vehicles without the certification," he told reporters during a press conference on Saturday (June 2).

In Malaysia, some 71,315 out of 332,458 affected Honda vehicles have yet to replace their airbags, he said.

"This figure is alarming as it accounts for about 20% of the total recall. I think that many people still haven't realise that they should change their airbags," he added.

Loke was visiting the family of Pong Hou Tien, 23, who was killed after he was hit by a 2cm metal shrapnel in the neck caused by a ruptured airbag inflator in his 2004 Honda City model following an accident on Sunday (May 27).

This brings the total death toll due to defective Takata airbags to seven in Malaysia.