By EISHI KADO/ Staff Writer
December 13, 2023 at 15:10 JST
The scene of a fatal accident in a tunnel on the Tottori Expressway on July 30 (Provided by Tottori prefectural police)
A minivan equipped with a fuel pump manufactured by Denso Corp. stalled on an expressway and was rear-ended in July, resulting in the first fatality connected with the problem part, sources said.
Honda Motor Co., maker of the minivan, said the accident occurred before the vehicle could be recalled over a possible defect in the fuel pump.
Since March 2020, eight automakers, including Honda, have issued 19 recalls over defective fuel pumps produced by Denso, Japan’s largest manufacturer of autoparts. More than 3.8 million vehicles have been recalled in Japan.
The defect could disrupt the flow of gas to the engine, causing the vehicle to suddenly stop because of engine failure.
The original fuel pump in the minivan had been replaced because of a malfunction soon after the vehicle was purchased.
In October, Honda issued an additional recall over the replacement fuel pumps. But it was unable to identify which vehicles the 3,431 replacement pumps were installed in.
According to Tottori prefectural police, a man in his 50s was driving the Honda minivan when it stalled and stopped on the side of the Tottori Expressway in a tunnel around noon on July 30.
A car crashed into the minivan from behind. The minivan driver’s father in his 80s who was in the back seat was killed. The driver and his mother were injured.
This month, police referred the driver of the car that rear-ended the minivan to prosecutors on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in death and injury.
According to investigative sources and Honda, the automaker has analyzed the minivan and found that a fuel pump failure caused the vehicle to stall.
However, Honda said the problem was not the direct cause of the fatal accident.
“We pray for the victims of the accident,” a Honda representative said. “We would like to recall the possibly defective fuel pumps as soon as possible and replace them with correct pumps.”
A Denso official said, “We cannot respond to issues concerning individual vehicles because we are unable to know the status of each vehicle.”
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