For all motorists, safety is a top priority. Drivers will go to great lengths to ensure that their car is prepared to handle any potential obstacle or threat that arises, including staying up-to-date with vehicle maintenance and getting any necessary auto repair completed as quickly as possible. The airbag is one of the most important aspects of car safety, so it's crucial that this feature functions properly in a vehicle. That's why Nissan Motor Co is recalling a whopping 1,053,479 vehicles around the world.
Technology troubles
According to CNN, these cars had a sensor malfunction that might cause the front passenger airbag to deactivate. The occupant classification software wasn't always able to identify that there was a person in the passenger side, particularly when there wasn't enough weight in the seat. As a result of this sensor issue, the system incorrectly deemed the seat empty and thus, the airbag would not go into effect during a collision. According to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the automaker already observed two crashes in which the airbag failed to deploy. However, a Nissan spokesman was unable to directly link those incidents to the proposed software problem.
So which vehicles were recalled? Among them are some of the recent best-selling Nissan models. The 2013-2014 Altima sedan, Sentra and Leaf electric car, as well as the 2013 NV200 taxis and the NV 200 cargo van were all affected. Additionally, several Infiniti models were impacted, including the 2013 JX35 and 2014 Q50 and QX60 utility vehicles. Reuters noted that the majority of the recalled models - 989,701 - were sold in the U.S., while 60,000 were sold in Canada. The rest of these affected cars were sold in other markets.
Related incidents
This isn't the only major auto industry recall going on, either. CNN reported that 1.6 million vehicles across the globe were recalled due to a defect with the ignition system that caused the car to turn off, thereby disabling the brakes, power steering and airbags. Additionally, the news outlet revealed that Toyota Motor is in the process of paying fines related to a 2010 recall related to unintended acceleration, and Honda had to recall 900,000 Odyssey minivans due to fire risk.
Regulators at the NHTSA take these malfunctions very seriously, and have been focusing on resolving these matters to ensure the roads are safer for everyone. The latest Nissan recall will reportedly begin mid-April, and will involve a complimentary update to the occupant classification software.