In the early 2000s, our industry experienced what would become the largest vehicle recall in automotive history. The Takata airbags, which were installed in over 100 million vehicles worldwide, in major global brands, such as Honda, Toyota, BMW, Ford, and others, had a fatal flaw. When they aged and were exposed to a high rate of heat and humidity, they would explode. What was meant to be a safety device, turned out to have the opposite effect. This flaw is attributed as having killed at least 30 people and injured hundreds.
Takata executives would admit that there had been foul play in both testing and reporting of the safety of the airbags. The eventual recall would prove to be a logistical nightmare, to the point that it is believed that there may be vehicles on the road that still have a Takata airbag in them.
Unsurprisingly, executives resigned, the company pled guilty to criminal charges, paid fines of $1 billion and went bankrupt. They were wiped off the face of the earth.
Takata had been considered one of the most respected names in vehicle safety in the world. They had become a global leader and the most trusted name for safety components. They were so pervasive and relied upon by so many that it made the foul play a massive industry disruption. The industry would have to start almost from scratch, relying heavily on smaller manufacturers to rebuild the airbag world all over again. In the next round, however, the automakers and legislators insisted on much greater scrutiny, safeguards, and accountability for automotive suppliers in general and safety components in particular.
This week’s Torah reading (October 25) is called Noach (more articles about it here), after the famous biblical protagonist of the Flood story. In the Torah’s case, God creates Man. Ten generations after Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden, the Torah describes a society that had become highly corrupt. According to tradition, the corruption had become so pervasive that it even affected the animals and the planet itself. God is so disappointed with humanity’s behavior that He decides that there is nothing left to do but initiate a “recall.” This biblical recall would wipe almost all of humanity and wildlife off the face of the earth.
Only one little group, Noah, and his family, were worthy of rebuilding humanity. God causes a flood to cover the earth and destroy everyone and everything that wasn’t along with Noah in his Ark.
Humanity and the animal kingdom would indeed be rebuilt by the Ark’s passengers, however, this time, God would expect greater accountability and provide more safeguards. Unfortunately, most of humanity would yet again find a way to rebel against God’s precepts. Generations after the Flood, the people of the world would gather to build the Tower of Babel, with the express desire of challenging God. That didn’t work out so well for them and is recounted as the place where humanity stopped understanding each other, developed different languages, and spread throughout the Earth.
Only ten generations after the Flood, would a personality appear that would start to mend the wayward instincts of humanity. Abraham. We’ll hopefully hear much more about him in the weeks to come.
