Japan's Honda Motor confirmed on Friday that a driver in Texas was killed when his car's Takata air bag inflator ruptured in a January 18 crash.

U.S. vehicle safety regulators have warned that defective air bag inflators in certain vehicles, which were made by Takata, can burst and eject pieces of metal inside the car.

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A Takata spokesman announced on Friday that the vehicle that figured in the Texas car crash had been recalled and the company had been working with Honda to get to the bottom of the circumstances and facts about the car's condition at the time of the crash.

Before the car crash near Houston, at least five other deaths have been connected to defective Takata air bags.

On Thursday last week, Honda said the Texas driver's 2002 Accord was covered in a 2011 recall, but the vehicle had not been fixed.

A medical examiner's preliminary report did say the driver died of blunt force damage to the neck.

On Friday, a Honda spokesman said the company had mailed several recall notices to the former owner of the Accord, but the present owner, who died in the crash, was not notified after he bought the car in April last year.

Last November, a top Honda executive sought to pass a proposal that new owners of used vehicles would not be able to register their vehicle if there was an existing recall for the unit and there were parts for its repairs.

TagsTakata Corporation, Takata airbags, Honda, car recall, 2002 Accord