Thousands of Nissan cars recalled after exploding airbags result in 30 deaths – is your vehicle one of them?

Safety authorities have issued an urgent ‘do not drive’ warning for certain Nissan models due to the risk of serious injury or even death.

The company is warning the owners of about 84,000 older vehicles equipped with dangerous Takata airbags, which could explode and hurl “sharp metal fragments” at motorists.

The company told drivers that if they have one of these vehicles, from model years 2002 to 2006, they should not drive it until repairs are completed and the defective airbag is replaced.

The alert applies to select 2002-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2002-2004 Nissan Pathfinder and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 vehicles.

The urgent request comes after one person in a 2006 Nissan Sentra was killed by an exploding front passenger inflator, and 58 others have been injured since 2015.

“Due to the age of vehicles equipped with defective Takata airbag inflators, there is an increased risk that the inflator could explode during airbag inflation, propelling sharp metal fragments that could cause serious injury or death,” it said. Nissan in a statement.

“Even minor accidents can result in Takata airbags exploding, causing life-altering, horrific injuries,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a statement.

‘Older model year cars pose a greater risk to occupants as the age of the airbag is one of the contributing factors.’

NHTSA urges all vehicle owners to immediately check to see if their vehicle has an open Takata airbag recall. website.

If this is the case, owners should contact their dealer to schedule a free repair as soon as possible – and heed any other warnings from the vehicle manufacturer.

Nissan and Infiniti offer free towing, mobile repair and loaner vehicles at select locations, the report said.

Any Nissan customers with questions or concerns can contact Nissan Recall website.

In 2020, Nissan recalled more than 730,000 vehicles to replace the inflators, but the company said there are still about 84,000 vehicles in use with the dangerous parts.

The 2002 Infiniti QX4 is also among the affected vehicles, Nissan announced Wednesday

Nissan has issued a ‘do not drive’ warning for specific models (Photo: 2004 Nissan Pathfinder)

According to NHTSA, 27 people in the US were killed when a defective airbag from the Japanese manufacturer exploded.

At least 400 people in the US have reportedly been injured, the government said.

Takata is now bankrupt, but more than 100 million of its products ended up in vehicles from more than a dozen automakers, which have now been recalled.

At least 67 million airbag inflators have been recalled in the US, making this one of the largest safety recalls in history.

Earlier this year, Toyota issued an urgent “do not drive” advisory for 61,000 vehicles equipped with Takata airbags.

A deployed Takata-manufactured airbag is seen on the driver’s side of a 2007 Dodge Charger in a recycled car parts lot in Detroit

Takata is now bankrupt, but more than 100 million products have ended up in vehicles from more than a dozen automakers

Stephanie Erdman, a first lieutenant in the United States Air Force, survived a crash in which metal shrapnel from the Takata airbag in her 2002 Honda Civic was fired into her neck and right eye on September 1, 2013

Affected models included the 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla, 2003-2004 Corolla Matrix and 2004-2005 RAV4.

Chrysler parent company Stellantis in July advised 29,000 owners of 2003 Dodge Ram pickups to immediately stop driving after a fatal incident involving a Takata airbag.

And in 2022, Stellantis urged owners of 276,000 other cars to stop driving after three other deaths linked to the bags were reported that year.

Honda similarly recalled 8,200 Acura and Honda vehicles last February after the airbag-related death of the driver of a 2002 Accord in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Honda alone has reported 17 American deaths and more than 200 injuries due to the Takata pump rupture.