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SALT LAKE CITY — A Centerville woman who nearly lost her life when an "overly volatile" air bag sent shrapnel into her face and neck is suing the company that makes the air bags, the maker of her car and the Utah dealership that inspected it.
The personal injury lawsuit filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court by Randi Johnston's attorneys names Takata Corp., the air bag manufacturer; Honda Motors, the maker of the 2003 Civic that Johnston bought used six months before the Sept. 28 accident; and the Stockton 12 Automotive Group, which inspected the car the day before she bought it.
The complaint filed by the South Carolina-based Motley Rice law firm is a tier 3 lawsuit, according to court filings, meaning it seeks more than $300,000 in damages. The lawsuit alleges negligence, reckless conduct and breach of warranty.
Johnston, 25, rear-ended the car in front of her on I-15 as she was driving to work. It was then that the air bag inflator burst, burying razor-sharp shrapnel so deeply in Johnston's neck that it could only be seen on an X-ray. The metal sliced her trachea and damaged her vocal cords, leaving her unable to speak normally.
It was sheer luck — had the shrapnel hit just marginally to the left or right it would have severed an artery — and a fast-acting Army medic that saved Johnston's life, she says.
"I could have died on the side of the road that morning, surrounded by strangers and choking on my own blood. No one should have to experience that," Johnston wrote. "If it weren't for the injuries to my throat, I would have walked away from that accident. Instead I left in an ambulance and spent several days in the ICU on a respirator, half-conscious and terrified."
Johnston's motive for the lawsuit is to raise nationwide awareness about the recalls, she said.
"I'm beyond thankful to be here today, despite the severe physical and emotional challenges that will face me for the rest of my life. However, the idea that people unknowingly continue to get into cars with these dangerous air bags every day sickens me," Johnston said in a release issued by her attorneys.
A faulty inflator in the Takata-made air bag in the Honda's steering wheel had been recalled in December 2014, while the passenger air bag was recalled just two days earlier, according to the lawsuit. Johnston was not notified of the recalls.
While the lawsuit claims the Honda's previous owner took the car to Stockton 12 for an inspection in March, the day before it was sold, Johnston's attorneys claim the dealership didn't check for internal notice directives for the air bag inflator to check for the recall.
Sara Waldman, a spokeswoman for Larry H. Miller dealerships, said Wednesday that a Carfax report's last indication of the car being sold was in 2013.
"It appears Ms. Johnston purchased the car from an individual, and based on the Carfax report, Ms. Johnston may not have registered the vehicle," Waldman wrote in an email.
Waldman denied any "secret recall" notices regarding the Hondas and noted that recall information is distributed by manufacturers. She said the vehicle underwent a multi-point inspection in March, but that a recall wasn't issued until June.
"When the recall notice was issued, the manufacturer (Honda) would have contacted the registered owner of the car with a recall notice," Waldman said in her email.
Motley Rice attorney Kevin Dean, who represents several clients in Takata air bag lawsuits, said the air bags pose a serious safety concern that is not being addressed. The lawsuit claims Takata has been aware of the defect as early as 2004.
"Takata and Honda are not working hard enough to track down the recalled cars, fix them or take them off the streets. They have had over a year to do so, and therefore it is completely unacceptable that just weeks ago shrapnel from Randi's air bag cut her throat," Dean said.
Dean also criticized Takata's directive to replace recalled air bags in high-humidity areas first, saying that used cars from risk areas can end up in any part of the country. The policy, he said, leaves used car owners "unknowingly driving ticking time bombs."
Contributing: Brianna Bodily
