The morning of May 29, Corey Burdick was driving to work in his 2001 Honda Civic like he would any other day.
The 26-year-old Eustis father of two boys was heading to his job as a forklift operator.
As he turned from Haselton Street to Orange Avenue, going 15 mph, Burdick collided with another car. And his air bag deployed.
In the brief moment it took for the bag to fill with nitrogen gas, a scrap of metal flew out of the igniter that set the bag in motion, said his lawyer, Richard Newsome.
The metal shard hit the coffee cup Burdick was holding and ricocheted into his right eye, Newsome said.
With stitches from his eyebrow to his nostril, Burdick was left blind in one eye, Newsome said. But the impact of the crash itself did not badly injure him or the other driver.
Burdick filed a lawsuit in July against Honda and Takata, the Tokyo-based company that manufactured the air bag.
"He's going through a lot right now, and he's still trying to sort out what it means for him and his family," said Newsome, who declined to make Burdick available for an interview Thursday.
Burdick's case is one of at least three possible Takata air bag malfunctions that has caused serious injury or death in Central Florida since 2009.
Air bags in about 7.8 million vehicles could have similar defects,
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Owners of cars covered by the recall should replace their air bags immediately, the agency said in a statement. Recalls began in 2008, according to Honda, and have been expanded since.
"Responding to these recalls, whether old or new, is essential to personal safety and it will help aid our ongoing investigation into Takata air bags," NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman said in a statement.
The air bag recall which was expanded earlier this week includes cars made by BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota, and model years from 2000 to 2011, according to NHTSA.
A Honda spokesman said the company sent a recall notice to Burdick's father-in-law, the Civic's registered owner, before the crash.
"Honda is always concerned when one of its customers is injured and Honda is actively working with Mr. Burdick and his counsel in an effort to resolve his claim," spokesman Chris Martin said.
Takata could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Air bags made by Takata, the Tokyo car parts manufacturer, have been involved in about 10 crashes nationwide that ended in serious injury or death, said Sean Kane, founder and president of Safety Research & Strategies, a Massachusetts-based consulting company.
"One of the problems that we're seeing with this is that the recall spans such a long time," Kane said.
"The one theme that we continue to see through these recalls is the quality control problems remain unresolved at the Takata plant."
The problems are likely caused by an igniter in the air bag, Kane said.
When a vehicle's sensors detect a crash, a chemical compound, sodium azide, is heated up until it decomposes, producing enough nitrogen gas to fill the bag. But if an igniter is over-pressurized or not welded correctly, it can explode, sending metal fragments through the air bag and toward the driver, Kane said.
Igniters regularly exposed to high temperatures can degrade more quickly, Kane said. NHTSA said vehicles in states with hot and humid climates, including Florida, could be at greater risk.
Most recently in Central Florida, 51-year-old Hien Tran was fatally injured driving home from her family's nail salon south of downtown Orlando the night of Sept. 29 when her 2001 Honda Accord collided with another car.
Nearby drivers and emergency personnel who tried to save her found deep gashes on the side of Tran's neck – cuts that investigators initially thought might have come from an attacker's knife.
Orange County Sheriff's Office detectives
later discovered that the injuries were likely caused by metal fragments which flew out of Tran's air bag. Tran died Oct. 2.
Jennifer Griffin of Orlando was sad to hear of Tran's case because it sounded similar to her own injury.
In 2009, Griffin was driving a silver 2001 Honda Civic to a nearby Publix when another driver turned and struck her car, she said in an interview Thursday.
Griffin's air bag deployed.
"And honestly, I don't remember anything. I guess I blacked out, and woke up with somebody knocking on my window or door asking if I was OK," she said.
A piece of her Takata air bag's igniter flew through the bag and sliced an artery on the left side of her neck, she said. Another piece hit her in the chest.
She had to wear a brace for five months, and still has scars, she said.
Griffin hired lawyers, who told her that a small air bag recall issued before her crash included other Hondas, but not her 2001 model.
She settled out of court with Honda. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Griffin said she was upset by Tran's death. Takata and the car companies, she said, should have acted more quickly after the first air bag recall in 2008.
"They knew about it, they've known about it for a long time. They're still just doing small amounts of recalls," she said. "…Nobody should have died after that, or gotten hurt after that."
Honda bought Griffin's totaled Civic from her to use for testing, she said. She drives a Buick now.
To check whether a vehicle is included in a recall, look up its Vehicle Identification Number and call the Auto Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to
safercar.gov
