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Gurjit Rathore was driving home on Christmas Eve 2009 with her three young children when a postal truck hit her Honda Accord. The air bags deployed, and everyone should have walked away to celebrate Christmas.

But instead of saving Rathore's life, the driver's air bag killed her. Metal shards from the ruptured bag flew into her chest and neck, severing vital blood vessels. Rathore, 33, bled to death not far from the family's home outside Richmond, Va.

When her estate sued Honda and air bag maker Takata for wrongful death — and ultimately settled for $3 million from Takata's parent company — industry documents turned over as part of the process might have shined a spotlight on what was wrong with the air bags. But the companies sought, and the plaintiffs agreed to, a "protective order" that hid the documents from view.

Courts are supposed to be public forums. But when powerful corporations want to avoid embarrassment and prevent more lawsuits, they often demand secrecy before turning over key documents or settling a case. Starting in 2004, Honda settled claims confidentially with at least five others injured by air bags, according to news accounts and an interview with a law firm.

Takata's defective air bags are just the latest example of how a routine system of secrecy can prevent the public from learning more about dangerous products.

General Motors hid deadly ignition switches from the public for nine years after secretly settling a death claim in 2005. The death toll linked to the defect stands at 36.

The air bag mess has unfolded differently.

Honda began recalling defective air bags in 2008, just 4,000 in the first round. In piecemeal fashion, the recalls have expanded to 10 million in the United States by Honda and nine other automakers.

Yet the defect, which has killed as many as four people and injured more than 100 in the U.S., gained wide attention only this fall, with a New York Times report of the death of a driver in Florida whose gruesome injuries from air bag shrapnel initially made police think she had been stabbed.

The news belatedly woke up Congress and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which demanded that Takata expand its current regional recall nationally by Tuesday — a deadline Takata defied.

At a House hearing Wednesday, Honda said it would expand its recall to all 50 states. As to the use of secrecy, a Honda executive said: "The confidentiality of legal settlements is part of our system ... but not to us a reason to cover up any safety information."

Nevertheless, that is the effect. In the real world, drivers often ignore recalls. They don't go hunting through NHTSA databases for injury, death and defect reports. By seeking secrecy, companies buy time and silence.

A bipartisan measure in the Senate would make it harder to obtain secrecy in federal courts when public safety is at stake, but the bill appears to have no chance of passage in this Congress' waning days.

When products kill, lawmakers and judges ought to ensure that the public interest is also represented at the settlement table.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.