Decrees ordering the recall of cars fitted with faulty airbags will be made on Monday, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades said on Thursday.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, he said he expects the legal service to complete its study of the decrees by the close of business on Friday, and that he will go ahead with the issuing of decrees regarding recalls on Monday.
Earlier, House transport committee chairman and Dipa MP Marinos Mousiouttas had told the Cyprus News Agency that Vafeades had offered “additional information” on the matter of recalls and what his intentions are regarding the faulty airbags manufactured by company Takata.
“There is nothing to announce that we can say, but what there is, and what can be said publicly is that the problems that they faced and that were reported to us on Tuesday have been overcome in terms of certifications and in terms of getting information out to the public,” he said.
He added that Monday’s planned decrees will “determine the procedure to be followed when a vehicle is found to have Takata airbags or something else that makes it dangerous for its owner to have and use.
“I believe that within the timeframe provided for by the legislation, the decree will be issued, and we expect from the reactions that there will certainly be a delay due to the large number of cars, but also due to the inconvenience that will be caused.”
He then said that based on any potential problems once the decrees are issued, “we will see if any alternative course or legislative change may be end so as to definitely end this issue and for everyone to be able to drive their car safely”.
He appealed to all involved parties, including dealerships and importers, to cooperate with the government, “even if only now”, saying that their cooperation “will help make things easier” and allow for “better and faster solutions”.
Vafeades had told the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday that there may be as many as 84,000 cars in Cyprus to be affected by the forthcoming recalls.
This number, he said, remains an estimate and subject to reassessments as more information becomes available, given that some car importers have as yet not submitted exact figures to the government.
“This figure may be an overestimation or an underestimation, and this figure will continue to develop over time as more information becomes available to us,” he said.
Takata airbags suffer a fault related to exposure to high levels of heat or humidity, with which means they have a tendency to explode when released under such circumstances.
This explosion 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.
The issue of faulty Takata airbags has been ongoing for over 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.
Earlier in the month, Vafeades had told the Cyprus Mail the decrees will include “among other things, the identification of vehicles which are subject to recalls, how the recall will proceed, what the risk assessment will be, and, based on the risk assessment, what actions people should take”.
“With the decrees, we want to cover all the issues which will arise from the situation and which we will manage, not only how we will handle the legislation. The approach will be comprehensive,” he said.
Asked by the Cyprus Mail earlier this month to explain the situation regarding present and future recalls and the possibility of cars being blocked from undergoing MOT inspections, he said there will be “no hard and fast rule” on how these decisions will be made.
“Decisions over whether some models will be immobilised, or whether they will not be able to undergo MOT inspections, or even over whether they will be recalled, cannot fall under a one-size-fits-all policy. The decrees will be specialised, and they will depend on each vehicle’s circumstances,” he said.
He referenced a similar situation in Australia, wherein “they studied the data, conducted risk assessments, and in the end decided to recall vehicles which had just one type of Takata airbag”.
The law which allows Vafeades to issue decrees to recall defective vehicles in light of recent issues with faulty airbags was passed by parliament in December
It also allows him 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.
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