Almost 1 Million Nissan Air-Bag Recalls Probed by U.S. Safety Officials

An investigation into 990,000 Nissan vehicles recalled in 2013 and 2014 is trying to determine whether the company adequately fixed a sensor malfunction that can inhibit the inflation of the front-seat air bags during a collision.

U.S. safety regulators are looking into complaints that the cars use ineffective computer software to distinguish whether an adult is sitting in the passenger seat vs. a child, according to the Associated Press. When a child is in the passenger seat, the software is designed to disable the air bag because the powerful inflation can prove dangerous.

Nissan Motor Co. said in a statement that it believes the problem was fixed during the recalls, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 124 people have complained about the issue persisting even after fixes were made.

The recalls affected the 2013 and 2014 models of the Altima, Leaf electric car, Pathfinder SUV and Sentra, as well as the 2013 NV200 Taxi and the Infiniti JX35. The 2014 Infiniti QX60 and Q50 SUVs also required updates.

In one complaint reported by the AP, a customer said the indicator light notifying drivers that the air bag has been turned off does not dim when an adult is in the seat.

[AP]