Commissioner General of the Department of Motor Transport (DMT) Nishantha Anuruddha Weerasinghe said that there are over 700,000 motor vehicles in Sri Lanka with defective airbags and other safety flaws.

It has been confirmed that a number of car models including SUVs with faulty air bags are currently running on Sri Lankan roads with no inspection while they have been recalled in other countries.

The Commissioner General said that vehicle import agents are now gathering details from the department on owners with vehicles identified with safety flaws and are taking steps to recall those vehicles.

He said that it is very dangerous to drive vehicles with faulty airbags.

Assistant Commissioner, Technology, of the Motor Transport Department, T.M.S.K. Tennakoon said that information regarding the vehicles to be recalled will be compiled and the public will be informed through the media. He said that 47 models have been recalled by car import agents in Sri Lanka for airbag reinstallation. This includes 33 models under nine categories from Honda, eight models under three categories from Mitsubishi and six models from Toyota.

The number of vehicle models recalled under various categories around the world is over 100 including Mazda (7), Mercedes-Benz (10), Mitsubishi (six), Subaru (5), Toyota (13), Volkswagen (7), Audi (19), Lexus (7) and Honda (16).

In addition to the 16 models, seven Honda models have been identified as high-risk. Although these recalls are done all over the world, only one company in Sri Lanka has done such a recall.