Toyota recalls 50K vehicles in US over airbag issue that can cause 'serious injury, death'

San Francisco : Japanese automotive giant Toyota has issued an immediate "DO NOT DRIVE" advisory, in which it recalled about 50,000 vehicles in the US over faulty airbags issue that can cause "serious injury or death" to the driver or passengers.

The recall notice includes certain model year 2003-2004 Corolla, 2003-2004 Corolla Matrix, and model year 2004-2005 RAV4 vehicles.

"Certain airbags found in the subject vehicles are under an URGENT airbag safety recall. Due to the age of the vehicles, if the airbag deploys, a part inside is more likely to explode and shoot sharp metal fragments which could cause SERIOUS INJURY or DEATH to the driver or passengers," Toyota said in a statement.

The carmaker urged the vehicle owners not to drive these vehicles until the free safety recall repair has been conducted. It also asked the owners to contact their local dealer instead of driving their vehicles to be repaired.

"Toyota will repair or replace the airbag for FREE. Toyota is notifying known owners of these vehicles every month through a variety of communication channels," the company said.

Since 2009, more than 30 deaths have been connected to Takata airbag inflators, reports BBC. This week, the Japanese automaker halted delivery of some vehicles due to errors in certification testing for diesel engines made by Toyota Industries.

An inquiry revealed that Toyota Industries employees altered horsepower output testing. "The investigation found that irregularities occurred during the horsepower output testing for the certification of three diesel engine models for automobiles that Toyota had commissioned to TICO (Toyota Industries Corporation)," Toyota said.

"Ten vehicle models are using the affected engines globally, including six in Japan," it added.