Takata's faulty airbags continue to exact a toll as recalls lag

Rock Hill, South Carolina

THE shrapnel from the Ford Ranger airbag punctured Joel Knight's neck with so much force that investigators initially did not rule out a fatal shooting.

Mr Knight's truck hit a stray cow on a South Carolina highway last December - an accident that should have left the 52-year-old welder shaken up but not dead. Instead, he bled to death, not knowing that the airbag in his truck had ever posed a risk, because it had never been recalled.