Australian driver seriously injured by Takata airbag in Darwin crash

An Australian woman has been seriously injured by a faulty Takata airbag, becoming the first local victim in a scandal that has killed several people and hurt hundreds more overseas.

Northern Territory police said a 21-year-old woman was struck in the head by shrapnel propelled by a faulty airbag during a crash on Monday.

Police said the woman was driving a Toyota RAV4 SUV when another car turned across her path on a suburban street, resulting in a low speed collision. It is understood the woman was not at fault.

She received serious head injuries and remains in Royal Darwin Hospital.

Sergeant Mark Casey, a crash investigator with NT emergency services, said in a statement that "this type of crash, in normal circumstances, would not have caused this level of injury".

"Investigations have revealed the vehicle was the subject of a worldwide recall for faulty airbag manufacture in 2015," he said.

"The recall involved approximately 100 million vehicles around the world, including 2.1 million vehicles in Australia."

Police have urged people to check the Recalls Australia website to see if their car is affected, and to make sure vehicles with the issue are rectified as soon as possible.

Toyota and Honda lead the local recall count, which includes 13 manufacturers and models ranging from city hatchbacks to four-wheel-drives and top-end Ferraris.

A spokesman for Toyota said this is the first Takata-related injury in Australia, and that the manufacturer is "cooperating with Northern Territory Police in their investigation".

Ammonium nitrate airbag inflators supplied by Takata are susceptible to moisture damage that can make them explode in an uncontrolled fashion, turning dashboard trim into lethal shrapnel.

Fiat Chrysler Automobilies has stopped using ammonium nitrate airbags in its cars, saying that the chemical "may degrade after several years of exposure to high absolute humidity", and that "such degradation may cause inflators to deploy with excessive force".

Australian drivers frustrated by lengthy delays to airbag repairs have previously contacted Drive to say it is "wrong for us to be expected to drive potentially dangerous cars" while waiting for replacement components.

• More information: Productsafety.gov.au