Nissan North America, Inc. is recalling 3.5 million vehicles due to problems with the software used to determine when to deploy the front passenger air bag, according to documents released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Friday.
In a safety recall notice submitted to the NHTSA, the company said software in nearly 3.2 million vehicles failed to correctly note when an adult sat in the front seat, either classifying the person as a child or as not sitting in the seat at all. The defect keeps the passenger air bag from deploying in the case of an accident.
The automotive company said the issues appeared to stem in part from passengers getting into "unusual seating postures" shortly after entering one of the effected vehicles. On rare occasions, the company reported the issue appeared to be sparked by the way a person got into the vehicle.
The recall includes some of the company's most popular vehicles. Nissan released the following list of affected makes and models: 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima; 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF and Sentra; 2013-2017 Nissan Pathfinder; 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60 and Q50; 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue; 2015-2016 Nissan Murano; 2015-2016 Chevrolet City Express and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles.
The company also issued a recall for approximately 622,000 Nissan Sentras produced between 2012 and 2016 because of a defect that can cause the front passenger air bag to deploy while a child is sitting in the front seat.
It's not the first time Nissan has recalled vehicles due to its faulty software.
The company recalled 990,000 vehicles in April 2014 after receiving multiple complaints that its software failed to identify when an adult passenger was in the front seat. In March 2015, the NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened an inquiry after receiving about 125 complaints that problems with the software persisted even after dealerships made repairs.
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