France, Dec. 18 -- "At the beginning of the crisis, 42,000 vehicles were equipped with Takata airbags. We were able to identify a large number of them," Guadeloupe's prefect Thierry Devimeux said on Wednesday.

He warned that "owners are not taking the necessary steps" over the 16,000 identified vehicles whose airbags have still not been changed.

"The state services are unable to determine which vehicles are still on the road or not, which have been purchased or not," he said, adding that police and gendarmes would begin random spot checking of vehicles on the roads.

Last week, the French Ministry of Transport announced that, starting 1 January 2026, all vehicles presented for technical inspection will be checked to determine if they ar...