Franklin, Tennessee — July 6, 2016 — Some Nissan owners may notice a problem with the brake lights in their vehicles. Because a switch in certain 2013 and 2014 Pathfinder vehicles may not have been properly installed, the lights could stay on when the owner isn’t currently activating the brakes.
As an official report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration noted, this could inadvertently lead to a crash if other drivers mistakenly assume that the affected Pathfinder is slowing down. As of June 1, no crashes were yet attributed to this issue, though there were also no specific indications listed for owners to look out for.
In addition to this concern, the same recall addresses a related problem in the same vehicles. A badly installed brake light switch could also disrupt the shift interlock and accidentally move the vehicle out of park when it is left stationary. As such, the remedy will address both the brake lamp switch and the stop lamp relay.
Nissan officially decided to conduct this recall May 19, more than six months after it addressed the possible problem in a December 2015 Technical Service Bulletin. A total 79,853 units are potentially affected, although only 2 percent are estimated to have the defect.
Last month, a similar concern prompted a different recall, this one from Fiat Chrysler. According to the Detroit News, that manufacturer recalled 2,185 trailer light modules because of a possible software error. The article stated that these units could potentially fail to light up when the driver presses the brake pedal, also creating the chance of a crash.
