Takata Emails Show Blatant Data Manipulation

Takata, the company that made airbags for Honda and other auto manufacturers, was in hot water throughout 2015 as regulators and legislators held them under the microscope for airbag defects. Now a private lawsuit has revealed emails showing the company engaged in blatant data manipulation about the safety of their products.

In 2015, Takata faced legislative hearings, regulatory investigations, and ultimately fines because airbags it made explode, sending shrapnel into the passenger cabin. Takata airbag defects have killed 8 people and injured hundreds more.

All of this culminated in November 2015 when Honda fired Takata and the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) imposed a $70 million penalty on the company. Both entities listed data manipulation as a reason for their behavior.

But evidence of Takata's manipulation of mandatory safety data had never been public before. That is, until a Florida woman sued the company for a 2014 accident. The aggressive deployment of the Takata airbag left her paralyzed. In investigating her private lawsuit, the plaintiff's lawyers discovered emails that showed how deeply data manipulation was ingrained in Takata's corporate policy. Those emails were unsealed and shared with the New York Times, who hired experts to review them.

Back in 2005 Takata airbag engineer Bob Schubert had reported in an internal memo that he had been “repeatedly exposed to the Japanese practice of altering data presented to the customer,” which the business called “the way we do business in Japan.”

But one year later, Schubert was encouraging fellow employees to engage in data manipulation himself, saying “Happy Manipulating!!!” The Times reported:

“Hey, I manipulated,” Mr. Schubert responded. The objective, he said, was to help disguise that some of the inflaters performed differently from the rest — a dynamic referred to as “bimodal distribution.”

“I showed all the data together, which helped disguise the bimodal distribution,” Mr. Schubert wrote. “Nothing wrong with that. All the data is there. Every piece,” he added. But then he suggested using “thick and thin lines to try and dress it up, or changing colors to divert attention.”

But Linda Rink, a former senior staff scientist for airbag manufacturer Autoliv, disagreed that nothing was wrong with manipulating data to hide problems with performance:

“If they would disguise inflater data sent to the customer, there is a serious problem with ethics within that company,” she said. “Having a bimodal distribution requires an explanation and a root-cause analysis, not a cover-up.”

If the plaintiff's attorney in Florida can show Takata knew about the dangers of their airbags, it could open the door for more lawsuits. Motorists hurt in Hondas and other vehicles equipped with the Takata airbags could find the way cleared to be compensated for their injuries.

Dani K. Liblang is an attorney for The Liblang Law Firm, P.C. She defends the victims of defective vehicle crashes against auto manufactures who dodge safety requirements. If you or someone you know has been hurt by a defective vehicle, contact The Liblang Law Firm, P.C., today for a free consultation.