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70,000 Jacksonville-area vehicles have exploding Takata airbags, company says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Startup company Carma Project is teaming up with Toyota to reward the public for convincing others to replace the defective Takata airbags in their vehicles.

Carma Project says there are about 1.1 million unrepaired vehicles being driven around Florida and about 70,000 of them are in the Jacksonville area.

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Action News Jax reporter Ryan Nelson spoke to Carma Project co-founder and President Tony Lim via Skype. He says the consequences of not knowing if your airbags are defective can be dire.

“People that you’re driving around, your friends, your family members, your kids, can be hit by this shrapnel,” he said. “They can be killed.”

Action News Jax told you in 2014 when Jacksonville resident Patricia Mincey sued Takata after she was paralyzed in a crash. Mincey died in 2016.

Lim says cases like Mincey’s are why they’re incentivizing the public with rewards up to $55 when they convince others to replace their defective airbags.

He tells us many drivers may not know.

“Unfortunately, what happens is that a lot of this contact information isn’t necessarily up to date with the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles),” he said. “So, the manufacturers may be sending letters to people, but it’s not actually reaching their intended audience.”

You can out whether your car's airbags need to be replaced by visiting nhtsa.gov/recalls or carmaproject.com.

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