A
A
A
The airbag in our car, truck, or SUV is designed to keep us safe in the event of a collision, but an ongoing problem with products from the airbag manufacturer, Takata has caused a recall by Nissan and other vehicle manufacturers. More than 250,000 vehicles are set to be recalled by Nissan North America after the Mexican Takata airbag manufacturer reported overloading the propellant, ammonium nitrate into its products. The overloading of this chemical has the potential to cause problems including causing metal pieces to be dislodged from the vehicle and strike the driver and passenger.
This problem has been known about for a number of months and was originally handled by Takata itself following an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The dangers caused by the overloading of the propellant were deemed serious enough for the NHTSA to give Takata until the end of 2019 to determine the level of danger facing drivers. However, some reports have stated the Mexican safety manufacturer has yet to meet the demands of the NHTSA prompting Nissan, Infiniti, and other manufacturers to take matters into their own hands.
Read More »
The decision to issue advice to drivers to return their vehicle to a local dealer to obtain a free replacement airbag has been issued to drivers by Nissan and follows similar decisions made by major vehicle manufacturers. A range of manufacturers has joined Nissan and Infiniti in recalling their vehicles to have the problem with the airbags fixed. Nissan’s attempts to provide a repair free of charge have caught the eye purely because of the huge number of vehicles involved and the range of model years. The 250,000 vehicles that are covered by the complimentary repair include trucks, SUVs, and minivans from 2011 through 2017 models.
The list of Nissan vehicles affected by the airbag problem is available and includes the Infiniti QX56 2011 and 2012 model years. Other vehicles recalled as part of the major campaign to address the problem include the Nissan Armada SUV 2013 to 2015 model years, the 2012 to 2017 NV van models, and the Titan pickups sold under the 2013 to 2015 model year branding.
Takata airbags have been at the heart of a number of injuries and deaths worldwide that have been blamed on the issue of the propellant in the airbag become too volatile for everyday use. The high level of propellant means a collision deploying the airbag has the chance to dislodge metal fragments from the body of the vehicle when it deploys that can be thrown into the cabin of the vehicle. The metal that is pushed back into the vehicle acts as shrapnel and can cause death or serious injury, in some cases. Around the world, the shrapnel that has been kicked back into the vehicle when a collision takes place has been reported to have resulted in around 24 deaths and more than 300 injuries.
Making sure the safest drive available is obtained by their drivers is key to the heart of the work being done by Nissan and has been shown by the decision to replace all the potentially faulty airbags free of charge. The serious nature of the potential danger has been the major cause of the decision by Nissan to react with such speed to the problem of the faulty airbags. However, Nissan also points out there have been no reports to link any of its vehicles to the deaths and injuries so far recorded because of the airbag issues. The auto manufacturer was also clear in its belief that there are no other models in its range that are affected by the potential problems and drivers should not be concerned about using their vehicles as the recall continues.
