What do you call a recall that needs to be recalled? Re-recalled? Auto parts supplier and manufacturer TRW is in the news and not in a good way. Two million vehicles have been re-recalled by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) to fix faulty crash sensors that could cause airbags to deploy for no reason.
The original recall included 2.12 million Acura MDX, Dodge Viper, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty, Honda Odyssey, Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix and Toyota Avalon models made in the early 2000s. These cars were recalled earlier to fix a malfunctioning electronic component manufactured by TRW, a major parts supplier to automakers. These parts caused some airbags to deploy without being in a crash.
In the manufacturers’ original attempts to fix the defects, the recalled vehicles were issued special sensors designed to gauge the seriousness or intensity of the impact and airbags would deploy only when a serious impact was detected.
According to NHTSA, the devices installed to protect the airbag sensor module from electrical surges in the first recall were pretty effective and reduced erroneous airbag deployments by about 85%, but some unnecessary deployments still occurred.
This new recalled issued early in February 2015, includes more than 2.12 million Acura, Dodge, Jeep, Honda, Pontiac, and Toyota vehicles. This time, manufacturers are required to remove the old impact sensors and replace them with brand new ones, instead of trying to repair them. Meanwhile, NHTSA is asking vehicle owners who have had not had the initial recall fix done to contact their dealers and have it done.
The vehicles involved are all from model years 2002 through 2004, making it hard to contact the owners through the mail. Many of these older vehicles are on their second or third owner and the original contact information is invalid. For that reason, NHTSA is doing everything possible to get out word of this recall.
According to a recent article written by Consumer Affairs about the air bag inflator recall, “On January 18, the driver of a 2002 Honda Accord became the fifth person in the United States thought to have been killed by an exploding air bag inflator in a minor two-car collision in Spring, Texas. Although that Accord had been recalled to replace its driver-side air-bag inflator in 2011, the recall work was never done, Honda has acknowledged. The driver who was killed had bought the car used less than a year ago and may never have received the recall notice. Consumer Reports urges all car owners to respond right away to safety-defect recalls.”
NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind agrees with the sentiment, “Families will be safer if they take the time to learn if their vehicle is covered and follow their manufacturers’ instructions. A hassle is much better than a family tragedy.”
For more information car owners should go to http://www.safercar.gov/.
