Millions of possibly deadly Takata airbags still on US roads: How to check your vehicle

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — It's been called one of the biggest disasters in automotive history — Takata airbags exploding and sending pieces of metal into passengers and drivers.

Since 2014, more than 140 million of them have been recalled, more than half of those in the U.S. But the risks are far from over, as many of the inflators deemed “most dangerous” are still ticking time bombs in vehicles across America.

There are at least 12 million cars out there that have been recalled and not fixed. Of those 12 million, six of them are in the highest priority groups," said Jerry Cox. "Six million of those cars have airbags that are more likely than not to kill you than save you in a crash.

Cox is an auto safety expert. U.S. Takata executives hired him in 2014, he says, to convince Japanese ownership to admit the airbag inflators were defective and dangerous.

“It was the exact opposite of what they wanted to hear,” said Cox. “The company decided they just weren't going to do that. And they didn't have to do that. What they did instead was to keep lying about that they knew."

Resulting in more deaths and injuries as defective airbags exploded into passengers and drivers, like Corey Burdick, a father of two, who lost his right eye after a minor accident sent a three inch piece of metal into his skull.

As he and ABC7's Lisa Fletcher sat and talked about the incident, he showed her graphic photos of his face after the accident.

“You can see in there where it was cut in three pieces,” he said as he pointed to his nose and eye. “The piece of metal was in there and it lodged into this cavity here. It was a millimeter from my brain. It could have went the other way and I could be six feet under the ground right now like I don't know how many people are."

At least 25 people have been killed by exploding Takata airbag inflators and hundreds have been injured, although experts say that number could be far higher than reported.

According to Cox, even after Takata became the subject of the largest recall in U.S. history, millions of Americans are still at risk.

"The agreement in 2015 was that they would do 100% repairs by the end of 2017."

Cox says three years past the deadline, and more than a quarter of the repairs are yet to be completed.

Some of which he says are in the "do not drive" category.

“Those are unbelievably dangerous," he says. "They're the first ones that were deadlier than the other ones. Nobody wants to be driving around with a hand grenade in your car, but for those 6 million, that hand grenade, the pin's already been pulled on those. There's not any excuse whatsoever for those to still be on the road.”

You may, or may not, have gotten a recall notice.

Some resemble junk mail and if the car is older and has changed hands, which Cox says many of the most dangerous are, it's not uncommon for notices to never reach the current owner. So, it's up to you.

Locate your VIN number and use the online tool to see if your vehicle is under recall.

If it is, Cox says contact a dealer who sells your make of vehicle and get it replaced immediately.

Cox has written a book about his experiences while involved with Takata, and the larger picture as he sees it, suggesting government regulators and auto manufacturers have responsibility to bear in what lead to the largest recall in history. He says proceeds from the book are being used to increase awareness about the risk of these inflators.

“I have no interest in this except for one thing and that is to get people to take these things out of their cars and not get killed. There is no reason that this should happen to anybody."

To watch our original reporting and why America could find itself facing a recall of the recall, click here.