Parliament on Monday approved a new law which will allow the transport minister to issue decrees to recall defective vehicles in light of recent issues with faulty airbags.

The law also allows the minister to unilaterally set the time period for measures to be taken for defective vehicles to be repaired, and for the suspension of MOT certificates for vehicles which contain defective or unsuitable components.

It is now expected that incumbent Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades will issue the first such decree, to recall cars containing faulty Takata airbags, on February 3.

A total of 51 MPs voted in favour of the law and one voted against, independent MP Andreas Themistocleous, formerly of Elam. He argued that a European Union regulation which entered force in 2018 offered sufficient regulation of the matter.

That regulation allows “national authorities” of member states to “take all appropriate provisional restrictive measures” to this end, though for this reason it could be viewed that the law which passed on Monday will work in line with, rather than instead of the 2018 regulation.

Meanwhile, it was reported earlier on Monday that a delegation from the road transport department will meet with stakeholders, including distributors, importers, the legal service, and other experts, with the aim of finding a method of recalling the vehicles which contain faulty airbags while minimising public inconvenience.

The transport ministry is also reportedly “examining a proposal” for free public transport options to be provided to people whose cars are recalled and who do not have another vehicle to hand.

To this end, the government is also reportedly hoping to secure EU assistance to find the spare parts necessary to fit the recalled vehicles with safe airbags.

The government also set up a helpline for owners of the popular Mazda Demio car – one of the best-selling cars on the island – after the road transport department had last week announced a recall on all Demio models imported from outside the EU.

Many of the Demio models imported into Cyprus were brought directly from Japan. The helpline’s number is 22 747100, and it became operational at 1pm on Monday. It will remain operational from 8am until 6pm on weekdays and from 8am until 3pm on weekends.

The law passed on Monday after its co-author, Disy MP Nikos Sykas, had warned that  thousands of cars on Cyprus’ roads may have defective airbags.

He said the road transport department had informed him that there are around 12,000 cars on Cyprus’ roads which are equipped with faulty airbags made by Takata, a company which faced a worldwide recall campaign.

However, he said, this figure only covers vehicles imported from the United Kingdom and the European Union, and “no one knows” how many cars imported from other countries are equipped with faulty Takata airbags.

Additionally, he said, despite the fact that dealerships had given assurances that they would not charge for checks on airbags in cars they were selling, some people had complained they were being charged as much as €160 and then told their airbags were faulty.

He did note, however, that there is no law which obliges dealerships not to charge for the service.

The issue of faulty Takata airbags has been ongoing for almost two years, with it believed that the death of 24-year-old Kyriakos Oxynos in January 2023 was caused in part by a faulty airbag.

More recently, it is now believed that the death of 19-year-old Styliani Giorgalli in October may have been caused by a faulty Takata airbag.

An autopsy found that Giorgalli had bled out, with then Famagusta district police spokesman Steve Theodoulou saying, “the cause of death was a haemorrhagic shock as a result of a rupture of the ascending aorta and lung caused by a metal object”.

The fault is related to exposure to high levels of heat or humidity, with Takata airbags having a tendency to explode when released under such circumstances. This then shoots the airbag’s metal inflator outwards and in the direction of the person it was designed to protect, potentially causing further injuries or, in some cases, death.