The reputation of airbags in vehicles has taken a beating over the past couple of years, fueled by the massive recall caused by Japanese supplier Takata.
The recall of Takata airbags, which could explode upon deployment to send metal shrapnel into the cabin of vehicles, will cost the company a staggering amount of up to $24 billion.
It seems that bad news regarding airbags are not yet over, as car manufacturer Nissan has just issued a recall order concerning the safety components.
Nissan is recalling around 3.5 million vehicles because of the risk of the front passenger airbag not properly deploying during a crash, according to a report [PDF] sent by the car company to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The issued recall ends a case spanning two years, with federal regulators urging Nissan to address issues in the occupant sensing system of its vehicles. The system is supposed to detect whether the passenger in the front seat is an adult or a child, or if the seat is empty. However, it sometimes fails to detect adult passengers and identifies them as a child or as an empty seat, which leads to the failed deployment of airbags upon crashes.
Three injuries have been linked to the airbag deployment issue, with no fatalities so far.
Of the vehicles affected by the recall order, 3.2 million are in the United States. This is the fourth recall concerning the issue since 2013.
According to Nissan spokesman David Reuter, the company will be implementing different solutions to the problem, depending on the vehicle. Some models will require a replacement of hardware, while some models will only require a reprogramming of software.
The vehicles included in the recall order are the Altima with model years 2013 to 2016, Leaf with model years 2013 to 2016, Maxima with model years 2016 to 2017, Murano with model years 2015 to 2016, NV200 with model years 2013 to 2016, NV200 Taxi with model years 2014 to 2016, Pathfinder with model years 2013 to 2017, Rogue with model years 2014 to 2017, and Sentra with model years 2013 to 2016.
Vehicles affected that are of brands owned by Nissan are the Chevrolet City Express with model years 2015 to 2016, Infiniti JX35 with model year 2013, Infiniti Q50 with model years 2014 to 2016 and Infiniti Qx60 with model years 2014 to 2016.
