DETROIT (AP) — Another death has been linked to dangerous Takata air bag inflators by U.S. regulators, the 28th in the United States.
The driver was killed in 2018 in Alabama in a Honda vehicle, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said, but gave no further details. It says the death underscores the need for people to replace recalled air bag inflators.
Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time due to high heat and humidity and explode with too much force. That can blow apart a metal canister and send shrapnel into the passenger compartment. More than 400 people in the U.S. have been hurt.
Worldwide at least 36 people have been killed by Takata inflators in Malaysia, Australia and the U.S.
Honda said in a statement that the Alabama death occurred in Etowah County and involved a 2004 Honda Civic. It involved a high speed crash which complicated efforts to definitively determine the cause of death.
Honda, the company that used more Takata air bags in its cars than any other automaker, said it has replaced or accounted for 95% of the recalled inflators in its vehicles.
“Honda continues to urge owners of Honda and Acura vehicles affected by the Takata air bag inflator recalls to get their vehicles repaired at an authorized dealership as soon as possible,” the company statement said.
Honda and Acura owners can check their for recalls at www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com. Owners also can go to nhtsa.com/recalls and key in their vehicle identification or license plate numbers.
Potential for a dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 67 million Takata inflators involved. The U.S. government says many have not been repaired. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide. The exploding air bags sent Takata into bankruptcy.
FILE - The logo of Takata Corp. is displayed at an auto supply shop in Tokyo, July 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)
WEST BERLIN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 17, 2026--
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360 ( https://www.ufcw360.org/cannabis-campaign ) announced today that manufacturing workers at New Jersey cannabis company Smiling Bud ( https://smilingbud.com/ ) have voted to unionize with Local 360, extending the union’s growing presence across the state’s legal cannabis industry.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260917917824/en/
Based in Ridgefield, NJ, Smiling Bud operates a 52,000-square-foot cannabis facility providing services that include extraction, manufacturing, packaging and fulfillment. Its manufacturing capabilities include edibles and concentrates, along with white-label, private-label and co-manufacturing services for cannabis brands.
For Smiling Bud employee Jessyca Padilla, the decision to organize was about having a meaningful voice in the workplace and standing with coworkers.
“I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t scary,” said Padilla. “Taking a stand and speaking up for yourself and your coworkers can feel incredibly vulnerable, especially when you don’t know how the people above you will respond. But I also know how much my team cares about this work and about each other. For me, this is about building a workplace where people feel respected, heard, supported and valued. Unionizing is our way of saying that we believe our voices matter. I’m proud to stand alongside my coworkers, and hopeful that together we can create a better future at Smiling Bud.”
The Smiling Bud vote represents another step in UFCW Local 360’s efforts to organize workers across New Jersey’s cannabis supply chain. Through its Cannabis Workers Rising campaign, the union represents workers in retail dispensaries, cultivation, and manufacturing, as well as other areas of the industry.
“Jessyca’s words say a lot about why workers organize,” said Hugh Giordano, UFCW Local 360’s director of organizing. “It takes courage to stand up and say you want a voice in your future, and it takes commitment to join your coworkers in making it happen. Manufacturing workers are essential to developing and creating the products that ultimately reach consumers. And like all workers, they deserve respect, stability and the opportunity to build real careers as this industry grows.”
An important component of New Jersey’s regulated marketplace, manufacturers transform cannabis into finished products, including concentrates and edibles, and provide production, packaging and related services so brands and retailers can bring those products to market.
For Local 360, organizing manufacturing employees is part of its broader effort to ensure that New Jersey’s cannabis industry creates sustainable career opportunities at every level. Its Cannabis Workers Rising team has been central to the development and stabilization of New Jersey’s legal cannabis industry, helping workers organize and negotiate for better wages, workplace protections, benefits and career opportunities.
“New Jersey cannabis isn’t an experiment anymore. It’s an industry, and an increasingly sophisticated one,” said Sam Ferraino, Jr., president of UFCW Local 360. “That means any conversation about its future must include workers throughout the supply chain. From cultivation and manufacturing to sales and retail, it’s the workers who move this industry forward, every day. They deserve to have a say in what it becomes. We’re very proud to welcome the workers at Smiling Bud to Local 360.”
From seed to sale, UFCW is a national leader in cannabis labor organizing and is the official cannabis union recognized by the AFL-CIO. UFCW represents tens of thousands of workers in dispensaries, grow operations, labs, delivery services, manufacturing and processing facilities across the U.S., working with employees and business owners toward the shared goal of a regulated cannabis industry that delivers family-sustaining jobs and is focused on social equity.
About United Food and Commercial Workers: The UFCW International Union represents over 1.3 million hardworking families across the U.S. and Canada. These members work in essential industries such as Retail, Warehousing, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Transportation, the Public Sector and Cannabis. More at www.ufcw360.org.
Some of the manufacturing employees at Ridgefield, NJ, based Smiling Bud gathered to celebrate their recent successful vote in favor of unionizing with UFCW Local 360.
