Hyundai recall concerns airbag deployment

Ulsan, South Korea — May 3, 2015 — A new Hyundai recall concerns the way a fault in the Occupant Detection System (ODS) of some Accent vehicles could dangerously impact airbag deployment. According to the official notice on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, 2,580 units are potentially affected by this recall, which will officially begin June 5. The Accents that are subject to the recall were produced between September 15, 2014, and February 10 of this year.

Normally, the ODS is supposed to detect if a child is in the front passenger seat of a vehicle and prevent an airbag from inflating during an accident, which would endanger the child. In the vehicles addressed by the recall, the source notes that the opposite is true, and that the system could be affected by cold temperatures, interfering with the sensor.

“If the ODS fails to detect that the seat is occupied by a child restraint seat, the front air bag will not be deactivated and, in the event of a crash necessitating front air bag deployment, there would be an increased risk of injury to the occupant in the child restraint seat,” the statement reads.

To remedy this, Accent owners should bring their autos to dealers, who will fix the problem in the ODS software. Consumer Affairs quoted a spokesman from the company, who gave more details about the kinds of temperatures that will activate the problem: as he said, the fault is only likely to persist as long as the interior of the car is “below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Sending out a tailored recall notice system can help businesses mention certain details, like the temperature in this example, which influence a defect or might make it stand out more.

Recall MastersHyundai recall concerns airbag deployment