Can’t Make It Up: GM Recalls Vans For Explosion Risk, Fiat Recalls Cars For Leg Airbag Irregularities


The only time I want to see a car blow up is in an action movie where it’s filled with bad guys. I don’t want to see a van driving down the highway burst into flames because of a natural gas leak. That’s probably why General Motors issued yet another recall Thursday, just a few hours after Fiat Chrysler announced the recall of several thousand cars because of an issue with leg airbags.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, GM issued a recall [PDF] of nearly 3,200 natural gas-powered vans because of an increased risk of fire or explosions related to a leak.


The recall covers Chevrolet Express vehicles made between September 10, 2010 and April 28 of this year, as well as GMC Savana vehicles made between May 23, 2011 and April 21 of this year.


The affected vans may leak gas from their compressed natural gas high-pressure regulators, which could, in some situations, lead to fire or explosions.


In an unrelated issue, Fiat Chrysler announced [PDF] that it would recall nearly 25,500 model year 2014 and 2015 Fiat 500L vehicles because of issues in the driver’s knee airbag.


Yes, that’s right, the Fiat 500L comes equipped with a knee airbag designed to protect the driver’s leg in the event of a frontal impact crash.


According to the NHTSA, irregularities in the “knee airbag folding process,” which was done at a plant in Serbia, could prevent the airbag from inflating properly.


The issue was first detected during crash tests conducted by NHTSA. The tests found the airbag did not meet requirements set forth by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard “Occupant Crash Protection.”


In the event of a crash, the improper deployment could cause injury to drivers if they are not wearing a seatbelt.


In both recalls, dealers will notify owners and fix the issue free of charge.




by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

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