Nissan's Oddball Car Under Scrutiny After Airbag Injures Driver
According to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), frontal airbags have saved over 50,000 lives over a 30-year period, between 1987 and 2017. That's significant, but when the deployment of an airbag goes wrong, this impressive safety device can quickly turn into a lethal weapon.
The NHTSA is now investigating an event where the driver of a 2009 Nissan Cube was injured when struck by an airbag module, which incorrectly detached from the steering wheel in what was a single-vehicle crash. Although only one incident was reported, the issue is serious enough for the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) to look into the matter in more detail.
Airbags manufactured by Takata have been subject to a recall that affected hundreds of thousands of vehicles from various brands, many of them produced in the 2000s and 2010s. So, it should perhaps come as little surprise that the 2009 Nissan Cube involved in this latest incident is fitted with Takata PSDI-X inflators.
Nissan and New Leaf LLC (previously known as Takata) have determined that the rupture was found at the weld point between the inflator cap and inflator housing. After striking the driver and causing injuries that required medical attention, the airbag module ended up in the Cube's back seat. The airbag cushion and inflator were still attached to the module housing.
The Cube's issue could be separate from the wider Takata recall, as the NHTSA stated the Cube's airbag failure "appears to be inconsistent with known ruptures attributed to propellant degradation."
The ODI report mentions the 2009 Cube only, but that already means 28,388 models could be affected. As of this writing, no recall has been issued, as only a completed investigation can determine whether a recall is necessary.
The 2009 model year was the first of the third-gen Cube, but it was also the first Cube to be exported to North America. It is one of Nissan's most unusual designs, and it's still a bizarre sight on roads today.
Hopefully, the ODI determines that this scary airbag failure is an isolated incident and not a flaw that could affect all Cubes.
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