In June, Nissan recalled 755,500 vehicles globally due to potentially explosive airbags that are manufactured by the Takata Corporation.
Nissan’s Vice President, Joji Tagawa, said that his company expects Takata to reimburse it for the cost of replacing the dangerous airbags.
The recall concerns certain vehicles manufactured between 2002 and 2004. Below are the models being recalled for the defective airbags:
- Maxima
- Pathfinder
- Sentra
According to Bay News 9, “the air bag inflators can rupture, causing metal fragments to fly out when the airbags are deployed and potentially cause serious injuries. So far, according to officials, no one’s been hurt.”
Unfortunately, other car manufacturers have recalled Takata’s airbags:
- BMW
- Chrysler
- Ford
- Honda
- Mazda
- Toyota
What Is the Most Effective Safety Protection for Vehicle Occupants?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “airbags, combined with lap (and) shoulder safety belts, offer the most effective safety protection available today for passenger vehicle occupants.”
In 2005, 2,741 lives were saved by airbags. Additionally, the NHTSA found that airbags reduced fatalities by 14 percent when no safety belt was used and 11 percent when a seat belt was used.
Airbags do not eliminate the threat of injury or death, but it does help cushion a person who is accelerating forward in a crash. CarsDirect says the most important part of the airbag system is the sensors. The sensors are responsible for detecting when the vehicle is in a severe collision and it relays that information to the airbags.
It takes 55 milliseconds for the airbags to deploy once the sensors detect a collision. That means the bag is deploying at nearly 200 miles per hour.
Amazingly, 55 milliseconds is equivalent to blinking your eyes or sneezing.