Nissan Airbag Recall May Need to Be Reissued Due to Reports of Persisting Problems, NHTSA Officials Report

Last November, Nissan issued a recall for nearly 1 million vehicles in the U.S. as a result of airbag problems that could prevent deployment in the event of a car wreck. As of this past June, Nissan reported having already fixed about 85 percent of the affected vehicles.

According to regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), however, this recall may need to be reissued, as about 1,300 vehicle owners have reported that they are still experiencing problems with their airbags after having received the recall “remedy.”

Background on the Recall: The Airbag Problems & Impacted Vehicles

The recalled defective airbags in Nissan vehicles reportedly fail to deploy as a result of a computer bug that:

• Misjudges the weight of the passenger in the vehicle
• Misinterprets adult passengers to be children passengers
• Consequently, prevents the deployment of the airbags in a car accident (as these airbags are designed to not deploy when children are detected to be riding in front vehicle passenger seats).

The specific vehicles affected by this recall currently include:

• Nissan NV200 vehicles (2013 models)
• Infiniti JX35 vehicles (2013 models)
• Infiniti Q50 and QX60 (2014 models)
• Nissan Altima, Leaf, Sentra & Pathfinder vehicles (2013 & 2014 models)

NHTSA Is Investigating the Recall, Possibility that Nissan Made Mistakes

NHTSA officials have already opened up an investigation into this potentially botched recall, and they are currently looking into whether the company may have failed to:

• Propose the right fixes for the defective airbags and computer systems
• Carry out this recall in an appropriate manner.

In fact, the action report regarding this NHTSA investigation specifically states that:

An engineering analysis has been opened to conduct a comparative assessment and further evaluate the effectiveness of the recall remedy, which will include a thorough review of the countermeasures taken by Nissan and its suppliers.

When the outcome of this NHTSA investigation is made public, we will report the results to you here in a future blog. In the meantime, post your comments about this recall on our Facebook & Google+ pages.

Contact a Mount Vernon Personal Injury Attorney at the Law Firm of Hassakis & Hassakis, P.C.

Have you or a loved one been hurt by a vehicle equipment defect – or by any faulty consumer product? If so, a seasoned Mount Vernon personal injury attorney at the Law Firm of Hassakis & Hassakis, P.C. is ready to stand up for your rights to justice and compensation.

Since 1950, we have been providing our clients with the highest quality legal services so they are able to maximize their financial recoveries after being harmed by negligence.

To find out more about how we can help you, contact our firm by calling (888) 896-9381 or by emailing us using the contact form on this page. We can provide you with a free, thorough assessment of your case, along with professional advice regarding the best manner in which to move forward.