OVERSENSITIVE AIR BAG DEPLOYMENTS

Air Bags

Summary

On June 26, 1998, General Motors begain a safety recall, 98V-146, to recalibrate the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) in the 1996 and some 1997 J body cars, cavalier and sunfire.due to certain calibrations in the air bag SDM, there is an increased risk of inadvertent air bag deployment in a low speed crash or when an object strikes the floor pan.the recall population consists of 675,302 vehicles built from April 1995 through May 1997.ODI has received 8 owner reports alleging inadvertent air bag deployment without a crash.the purposer of the rq is to determine whether GM should expand the recall to include these vehicles.closing resume note:as of August 5, 1999, ODI received one additional complaint regarding the alleged defect.the incident rates for the subject vehicles are about one-thrid of the rates of the recalled vehicles (when the recall was initiated).based on the available information, a safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of Agency resources does not appear to be warranted.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect dose not exist.the Agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by future circumstances.

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