NHTSA has announced that Nissan is recalling almost four million vehicles due to dangerous safety issues where the passenger side air bags or seat belts could fail in a crash, causing serious injuries or fatalities.
The Nissan recall is unrelated to the other Takata air bag issues. Nissan says that the vehicles have a problem with a sensor that detects if the front passenger seat is occupied and if that passenger is an adult or a child. The defective sensors can incorrectly think that an adult is a child or indicate the seat as empty which turns off the air bag. Full NHTSA recall here.
The recall includes the following vehicles:
2016-2017 Nissan Maxima
2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200 LEAF and Sentra
2013-2017 Nissan Pathfinder
2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60 and Q50,
2014-2017 Nissan Rogue
2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Chevrolet City Express
2013 Infiniti JX35
2013-2016 Sentras
In the Sentras that are being recalled, the air bag sensor has the opposite problem: It isn’t shutting off when it should be. Nissan stated the front passenger seat belt bracket may become deformed if it is used to secure a child restraint system. That defective seat bracket might then cause the air bag not to shut off when it should be off. Full NHTSA recall here.