Chevrolet has announced a recall for select 2013 model year Malibu sedans for possible unexpected driver side roof rail airbag deployment that may cause serious injury to the driver.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an incident of abrupt and heavy braking can disturb the vehicle's sensing and diagnostic module, causing the entire system to reset. During the three second duration of system reboot, the vehicle may falsely sense an immenent rollover situation if a sharp turn is taken too aggressively. Finally, due to this series of rare and unique factors, rail airbags may trigger to deploy. Rare as this situation may seem, General Motors did report one such incident occuring on a test vehicle. Heeding the concerns of safety, one incident was enough for the company to formally conduct a recall. So far, no crashes or injuries resulting from the defect has been reported.
The Detroit Free Press confirmed that a total of 4,304 affected Malibu owners will be notified beginning June 1 to have their sensing and diagnostic module reprogrammed, courtesy of a GM dealer. For additional information on the recall, please contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration safety hotline at 888-327-4236 and ask for recall campaign #12V224000.
