Deadly airbags: more than 10,000 Citroëns immobilized

There has been a sharp change of tone in the recall campaign for Citroën C3, C4, and DS3 models still equipped with Takata airbags (those produced between 2009 and 2019). Until now, the 10,244 owners were asked to have them replaced, free of charge, "as soon as possible." Since Tuesday, they have been formally banned from driving until this is done. Meanwhile, the accidental explosion of one of these devices on June 11 killed a female driver in Reims (F).

"Cars can only be used to get to the selected repair shop on the day of the appointment," said Dušan Radić, spokesperson for Citroën in Switzerland. "Our customers must not take any risks in order to avoid any incidents as much as possible."

If the tone is so alarmist, it's because the crisis is serious. Worldwide, 45 people have already lost their lives because of this defect ; most of them from flying screws and shards of metal in the passenger compartment. In Switzerland, approximately one million cars have been equipped with these dangerous airbags at one time or another. To date, 720,000 vehicles have been repaired, 93,000 are due to be repaired, and 280,000 have been taken off the road. Various manufacturers, such as Honda, made the modifications several years ago. But a complete shutdown of the vehicle had not been ordered.

It should be noted that a "Stop Drive," as it's called, is a measure taken by a manufacturer. It is not an order from the authorities. However, the Federal Roads Office has been informed of this, and "if a vehicle owner ignores the letters sent to them and does not have the necessary repairs carried out, the road traffic department of the canton concerned can remove the vehicle from circulation," it explains.

To find out for sure whether a vehicle is affected by the recall campaign, owners can contact their garage.