The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will investigate Japanese vehicle maker Honda Motor Co. for its 2008 Accord sedans which motorists are complaining against for alleged faulty airbags that do not deploy during crashes.
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The issue is different from the of combustible air bag inflators made by Takata Corp in Honda vehicles. The move comes after 19 complaints of air bags not deploying in an emergency. The issue can be fixed if the entire airbag control module of the affected Accords is replaced.
The Examiner noted that Honda has been the hardest hit among carmakers by the Takata airbag debacle since the company was its main supplier of the safety feature as late as February this year.
The agency says in documents posted Friday that it received 19 consumer complaints that the air bag control computer failed in the Accord, which then was Honda’s top-selling model.
About 384,000 of the 2008 Accord sedans in the United States may be recalled if the federal agency finds in its investigation that a recall is warranted.
The agency did not identify the people who had made the complaints, but it reported that it seems that the safety of the vehicle operators and passengers are in jeopardy and they are heading potentially for facing some serious injury or death during an accident.
If a auto crash occurs the malfunction in the module probably restrains the airbag from deployment. Investigators will look into how often the problem happens and decide if a recall is needed. The safety regulator added that the malfunction causes the air bag indicator lamp to light up, which means that the system is disabled and must be repaired. Several reports indicated that the SRS module was unable to communicate thus preventing diagnostic trouble codes from being retrieved.
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Meanwhile, Honda said that it is cooperating with NHTSA, and it is also doing its review.
