This the abstract of my forthcoming paper, based partly on participant observation of an inquest proceeding over 2019-21 in Sydney after the death of a Honda driver from an exploding Takata airbag that had not yet been replaced in a huge global recall. It will be be published in 49(3) UNSWLJ later this year. A pre-publication, author-produced version of the article, subject to editorial revision, is already freely available via SSRN.com . As noted in the Introduction, problems persist and for example hearings occurred in late 2025 in Singapore for an inquest into the death of a Honda driver from a Takata airbag.
‘The Interface of Inquests with Consumer Law and Policy: The Takata Airbag Debacle in Australia and Beyond’#
Luke Nottage
- Introduction
- Consumer Product Safety Re-regulation in Australia
- The Takata Airbag Debacle
- The Coronial Inquest (2019-2021)
- The Aftermath of the Inquest
- Other Consumer Product-related Inquests and Analogues Abroad
- Conclusions
Abstract: Unsafe Takata airbags remain in circulation, in Australia and worldwide, despite almost two decades of recalls and recent initiatives to improve consumer product safety regulation generally (Parts 1-3). The NSW coronial Inquest over 2019-2021 into Australia’s first known fatality in 2017 uncovered how Honda Australia and regulators were partly asleep at the wheel regarding voluntary recalls (Part 4). The fatality triggered a belated compulsory recall and legislative reform to allow the Transport Department such powers, both introduced in 2018, and by the end of the Inquest the Department was taking a clear lead role in vehicle recalls. The Inquest findings and recommendations for avoiding future harms from Takata airbag and other recalls, only released in November 2021, flew largely under the radar in the media but influenced some regulatory practices and could have had an impact on private litigation (Part 5). Such inquests and analogues overseas, little discussed in the legal literature, deserve wider scrutiny (Part 6). They can help identify serious product related risks and responses, assisting compensation claims and regulatory learning, while avoiding future harms and providing an extra resource for consumer product safety law reforms.
# I thank Sean Hasegawa for research and editorial assistance. I am also grateful for helpful feedback and/or information from Simon Bronitt, Philip Dwyer, Sarouche Razi, Damian Scattini, Cameron Stewart and two anonymous reviewers. Any misconceptions and errors remain my sole responsibility.
