The Airbag Blog

Honda Accord Safety Recall Caused by Defective Air Bags

Taras Rudnitsky — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:00:52 +0000

Honda is recalling 347 certan model year 2012 Honda Accord and Honda Crosstour vehicles. The driver-side or passenger-side side curtain airbag inflator may not have been manufactured according to correct specifications. In the event of a crash, the side curtain airbag may fail to deploy, increasing the risk of injury. The safety recall is expected to begin on or about February 10, 2012. 12V-030.

Toyota RAV4 Recalled for Defective Curtain Airbags

Taras Rudnitsky — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:42:40 +0000

Toyota is recalling 427 model year 2011 Toyota RAV4 vehicles manufactured from November 24, 2011 through December 19, 2011. In the curtain shield airbags, propellant with the incorrect specification was used for the initiator assembled in the airbag inflator. In this condition, the inflator may not perform properly, causing one or both curtain shield airbags to not deploy. In the event of a crash, the airbags may not deploy and will not be able to properly protect an occupant, increasing the risk of injuries. The safety recall is expected to begin early March 2012. 12V-029.

Kia Airbag Recall: Defect Prevents Airbag Deployment

Taras Rudnitsky — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:50:20 +0000

Kia Motors America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling 145,755 model year 2006-2008 Kia Optima vehicles manufactured from September 29, 2005, through January 29, 2008, and model year 2007 and 2008 Kia Rondo vehicles manufactured from September 13, 2006, through March 21, 2008. The clock spring contact assembly for the driver’s side air bag supplemental restraint system (SRS) may become damaged through usage over time. If the clock spring contact assembly becomes damaged, the driver’s air bag electrical circuit will experience a high resistance condition potentially causing the driver’s air bag to not deploy. If the clock spring develops high resistance, in the event of a crash, the driver’s air bag will not deploy and will not be able to properly protect the driver, increasing the risk of injuries. The safety recall is expected to begin during March 2012. 12V-014.

Audi A6 Air Bag Recall: Defective Curtain Air Bags

Taras Rudnitsky — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:02:31 +0000

Volkswagen is recalling 317 model 2012 Audi A6 vehicles manufactured from April 8, 2011, through May 26, 2011. Due to a problem in the stitching process of the curtain air bag, the seam of the air bag may not be stitched properly. In the event of a crash, the head curtain air bag may not deploy and will not be able to properly protect an occupant, increasing the risk of an injury. The safety recall is expected to begin during January 2012. 11V-580.

Airbag Defect: Jeep Airbags May Not Deploy When Needed

Taras Rudnitsky — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:00:54 +0000

Chrysler is recalling 5,334 model year 2008-2012 right hand drive (RHD) Jeep Wrangler vehicles manufactured from February 1, 2007 through October 10, 2011. Some vehicles may be equipped with driver’s airbag clockspring assemblies that could experience a compromised airbag circuit resulting in an airbag lamp illumination, which indicates that the airbag may not deploy. A broken electrical circuit in the airbag clockspring wiring assembly can lead to non-deployment of the driver frontal airbag and will not be able to properly protect the driver in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injuries.11v-528.

The Office of Defect Investigations had received 29 consumer complaints of airbag light illumination and/or clockspring failure on model years 2007-2008 jeep wrangler. Twenty-three of the 29 complaints specifically identified the airbag clockspring wiring assembly as the source of the issue. The remaining six complaints referenced only the airbag light being illuminated. Among the fourteen owners contacted, six stated that they owned a right hand drive version of the vehicle typically used by postal carriers. Sixteen of the 29 complaints were received since January 1, 2011. A broken electrical circuit in the airbag clockspring wiring assembly can lead to non-deployment of the driver side frontal airbag. PE11-019.

GM Recalls Pontiac Air Bags Due to Head Injury Risk

Taras Rudnitsky — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:11:23 +0000

General Motors (GM) is recalling 38,444 model year 2008-2009 Pontiac G8 vehicles manufactured from November 2, 2007 through January 22, 2009. A 5th percentile female anthropomorphic test device (ATD, also known as a crash test dummy) in a 30 mph frontal barrier test exceeded the Head Injury Criteria (HIC) requirements of the standard. With the front passenger seat positioned full forward, the seat position sensor will cause a 30 milliseconds deployment delay between the first and second stages of the dual-stage frontal passenger air bag. In the event of a crash, this delay may result in increased head injury to certain front seat occupants. 11V-534.

Airbag Defect: 1994 Nissan Altima Causes Blindness

Taras Rudnitsky — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:59:34 +0000

Our client was a front seat passenger in a 1994 Nissan Altima that was involved in a low-speed intersection accident. When the passenger air bag deployed, it blinded her in one eye, even though she was wearing her seat belt. Our analysis revealed that the passenger air bag was defective. It also revealed that the air bag defects contributed to a higher likelihood of injuries from the deploying air bag, specifically including eye injuries and blindness.

Buick Century Air Bag Failed to Deploy Causing Driver Death

Taras Rudnitsky — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:45:16 +0000

Our clients’ mother was driving her 2003 Buick Century when for unknown reasons, her car veered off the road. The front of the Buick Century struck a steel culvert head-on with such force that the entire car flipped over onto its roof.

2003 Buick Century Air Bag Failure in Frontal Crash

Despite the severity of the crash, the driver’s air bag failed to deploy. As a result, her face hit the steering wheel, causing extensive facial fractures. After many weeks of hospitalization, she succumbed to her injuries and passed away.

Upon being retained, we promptly investigated this accident and the design of its air bag system. Our investigation revealed that the 2003 Buick Century air bag system contained several design defects. For example, it failed to include any crash sensors in the front of the car. Our investigation also revealed that many of these defects are also present in other General Motors cars.

Hyundai Airbag Defect May Block Driver Airbag Deployment

Taras Rudnitsky — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:00:37 +0000

Hyundai is recalling 205,233 model year 2007-2008 Hyundai Veracruz vehicles manufactured from December 26, 2006 through March 21, 2008, and model year 2007-2008 Hyundai Santa Fe vehicles manufactured from April 19, 2006 through March 20, 2008. The clock spring contact assembly for the driver’s air bag supplemental restraint system (SRS) may become damaged through usage over time. The driver’s air bag electrical circuit will experience a high resistance condition, potentially causing the driver’s air bag to not deploy. If the clock spring develops high resistance, in the event of a crash, the drivers air bag will not deploy and will not be able to properly protect the driver, increasing the risk of injuries. The safety recall is expected to begin during September 2011. 11V-472.

Airbag Defect: Kia Sorento Passenger Airbag May Not Deploy

Taras Rudnitsky — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:42:55 +0000

Kia is recalling 10,631 model year 2007-2008 Kia Sorento passenger cars manufactured from June 15, 2006 through November 27, 2007. Kia reports that for vehicles built prior to the software update of 11/27/2007, the vehicles can improperly classify an adult as a child restraint seat and thus illuminate the “airbag off” warning light and suppress the frontal passenger airbag. On May 12, 2009, Kia launched a technical service bulletin (SB076) campaign to “re-flash” all vehicles built prior to the 11/27/2007 production date.

The front passenger air bag may be turned off when an adult is in the passenger seat. The front passenger air bag is designed to be turned off in limited circumstances including when children and small adults are seated in the front passenger seat, there is a child restraint in that seat, or the seat is not occupied. The vehicle’s occupant classification system (OCS), which classifies the occupant in the front passenger seat, may misclassify an adult passenger as a child or child seat and improperly turn off the passenger side air bag. When the air bag is deactivated, the “passenger air bag off” light will illuminate on the center instrument panel. The passenger side air bag is turned off when the OCS misclassifies an adult passenger. With the front passenger airbag off, the front passenger will not have the protection of the passenger air bags in some frontal collisions, thus increasing the risk of occupant injury.11V-473. EA09-017.