Nissan Owners in North Dakota and Montana: Your Car’s Air Bag Could Be a Deadly Hazard

Nissan is telling owners of about 84,000 older cars to stop driving them right away. The reason? Their Takata air bag inflators are more likely to explode in a crash and send dangerous metal fragments flying.

This urgent message comes after a tragic incident where someone in a Nissan died because of an exploding front-passenger inflator. Since 2015, there have been as many as 58 injuries linked to this issue.

Nissan explained, "These vehicles are getting older, and the defective Takata air bag inflators could explode when the air bag deploys. This can send sharp metal fragments flying, causing serious injuries or even death."

According to ABC News, the warning covers certain 2002-2006 Sentra small cars, 2002-2004 Pathfinder SUVs, and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 SUVs. If you own one of these, you can check if your vehicle is affected by visiting nissanusa.com or infinitiusa.com and entering your vehicle's 17-digit identification number.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also warned, "Even minor crashes can cause these Takata air bags to explode, leading to fatal or severe, life-altering injuries. Older cars are at higher risk because the air bags are aging."

In 2020, Nissan recalled 736,422 vehicles to replace the inflators, but about 84,000 remain unrepaired despite numerous outreach attempts.

These inflators use ammonium nitrate, which deteriorates over time, especially in heat and humidity, leading to explosive air bag deployments. Over 400 people in the U.S. have been injured.

Nissan owners should contact their dealer to arrange a free replacement of the inflators, offering free towing and, in some areas, mobile service and loaner cars.