You might have heard about the Takata airbag recall - if you drive a Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru or a Toyota, there is a good chance you received a notice from the your dealer. As of summer 2015, recall of Takata airbags exceeds 34 million vehicles just in the US.
Many dealers still have pretty long wait times, but if you got a recall notice, give them a call. Many have worked down their backlog, and may be able to schedule replacement within a few days, often less than a week. Given the severity of potential injuries, scheduling an airbag replacement sooner than later is a good idea.
The problem with Takata airbags is that they sometimes deploy with too much force, sending shrapnel into the interior of the vehicle. Both deaths and injuries have occurred. Apparently, the culprit is moisture. Once it gets into the inflator, it destabilizes the chemical compound responsible for the explosion that inflates the airbags – due to moisture, the compound becomes more explosive than intended.
So if you got a recall notice, call your dealer to get a replacement. Dealers will replace your airbags free of charge. If you have not received a notice, or are not sure if your airbags should be replaced - you can check your VIN here - this is a site provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to check if your car has had incomplete recall work done within the last 15 years.