As many of my friends know, federal safety regulators have initiated an investigation into airbag deployments on approximately 320,000 Honda Odyssey vans. Do you own or drive one? If so, read on.
The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) involves models between 2003 and 2004, after receiving six driver complaints. The complaints were for front airbags that suddenly deployed, even though the vehicle had not been involved in an accident.
In these complaints three drivers said they were injured, when the airbags deployed unexpectedly. All of the complaints involved the airbags deploying while the vehicle was in motion on the road.
Chrysler and Toyota faced large recalls over this same airbag issue. According to the NHTSA said they have another 41 complaints involving the Odyssey’s airbag warning light coming on in the vehicles.
Chrysler had an airbag issue that was similar, which caused the safety regulation agency concern with the Honda models. Chrysler Jeep Liberty vehicles had the same problem and Honda has purchased the same electronic air bag module for their Odyssey model.
According to the NHTSA the module was purchased from the same supplier, TRW Automotive Inc. The problem in the Jeep Liberty’s, the NHTSA said that they know of 131 incidences of sudden airbag deployments in the 2002 and 2003 models.
This resulted in 62 people being burned, cut and sustaining bruises to the upper body. When this airbag issue occurred it involved 900,000 Jeep Cherokee SUV’s and Dodge Vipers in the recall by Chrysler and approximately another 900,000 Toyota Corolla’s and Matrix compacts in the recall issued by Toyota.
More Info:
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-76243584/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/65192335/HONDA-2007-Odyssey-Owner-s-Manual