The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has decided to ramp up its investigation concerning reports of Jeep Liberty inadvertent airbag deployments. The upgrade of the probe, which began in September of 2011, could spur a massive recall of nearly 387,000 of the 2002-2003 Chrysler vehicles.
87 reports have been filed so far concerning Jeep Liberty airbags deploying for no apparent reason. In 42 of the 87 incidents, the driver’s front airbag deployed unexpectedly. The rest of the deployments involved both the driver’s and passenger-front airbags. As a result, 50 injuries have been reported, which include burns, cuts, and bruises. No deaths have been reported due to the potentially defective airbags.
Incidents of air bags going off inadvertently have occurred both at startup and when the vehicle was moving. In some cases, the airbag warning light came on just before the air bag went off. In other cases there was no warning at all.
According to the NHSTA, Chrysler is cooperating with the probe and is looking into possible reasons for the airbag problem, which may be due to a faulty electronic circuit that controls the airbag release.
It is all auto manufacturers’ responsibility to comply with NHSTA mandated safety regulations. If an injury or death occurs due to an airbag defect that results from the manufacturing or design process, the airbag defect lawyers in Jacksonville of Farah & Farah are ready to help you with a free consultation to discuss any possible product liability action. Call (800) 533-3555 today to take advantage of our extensive knowledge and experience on these matters.
Sources: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2012/01/feds-upgrade-probe-of-jeep-airbag-incidents.html; http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/30/us-jeep-nhtsa-idUSTRE80T0X020120130
