The Transport Ministry has ordered the Road Transport Department (RTD) to disallow road tax renewal for owners of vehicles with old Takata airbags.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said the directive was with immediate effect.

“According to Honda (M) Sdn Bhd's records, 71,315 of its cars manufactured from 2003 to 2013 have not changed the faulty Takata airbags.

“I have instructed RTD not to allow these vehicle owners to renew the road tax if they do not show the confirmation letter from Honda that they had changed the airbags,” he said when visiting the family of Pou Hou Tien, 23, who died in an accident at Taman Len Seng, Cheras last Sunday.

Also present at the victim's family home in Jalan Damai Perdana near Cheras was RTD director-general Datuk Seri Shahruddin Khalid.

In the incident, Poh died at the scene after his Honda City car crashed into a lamp post. It was said that his death was due to the faulty airbag.

Loke said there had been eight fatal accidents involving the airbag in the country so far.

In the meantime, he urged other vehicle companies using the same defective Takata airbags to provide data on the owners of their vehicles who have not changed the airbags to RTD.

“In this case, I do not want to point fingers at the car makers because they have issued a letter of reminder to the vehicle owners to change the airbags.

“It all depends on the awareness of the vehicle owners themselves,” Loke said.

- Bernama