A faulty airbag likely led to the death of a man involved in a crash in Sydney's south-west last week.
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The man, 58, was driving a Honda CRV when it collided with a Toyota Celica last Thursday at the intersection of Mallee and Church Streets in Cabramatta.
A NSW Police investigation found he died at the scene after being struck in the neck by a small fragment.
He was travelling with a woman, who was treated at scene for non-life threatening injuries. The driver and passenger of the Toyota, both men, were also treated at the scene with minor injuries.
The Honda CRV model was the subject of a worldwide recall for faulty driver and passenger airbags earlier this year.
The man's death has now been reported to the NSW Coroner to determine if an inquest is necessary.
Earlier this year Honda were forced to recall more than 25,000 cars in Australia that were fitted with potentially deadly Takata airbags.
An extra 600 were called back for a second time when it was discovered the replacement parts were found to have the same defects.
The last recall especially affected owners of Honda Civics made in 2000, and 2012 versions of the CRV, Jazz, City, Insight, Accord and Legend.
According to industry reports, the Japanese car maker has recalled almost every car sold in Australia over the past 15 years to replace airbags.
About 650,000 new airbags have since been refitted.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued its latest warning regarding Takata front cabin airbags in April.
NSW Police are now urging owners and drivers of affected cars to act as soon as possible.
Consumer advocacy group Choice are now calling for motorists who drive specific Toyota, Mazda, BMW, Subaru, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Jeep, Lexus and Ford models to check in with manufacturers and stay across Product Safety Australia's latest consumer updates.
Last week's fatality is the latest airbag related incident impacting Australian drivers.
In April a woman in Darwin was almost killed after being struck in the head by metal shrapnel that was expelled from a faulty Takata airbag in the Toyota Rav 4 she was driving when she was involved in a low-speed collison.
Following the death of the Sydney man last week, Takata airbags have now been attributed to 17 deaths worldwide including the near decapitation of an American man who had a piece of metal fly into his neck when the airbag in his 2002 Honda Accord deployed after a minor crash.
This story first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.
