Jeep Cherokee (Photo : reuters)
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has issued a recall for around 228,000 Jeep Cherokee units after an issue with the vehicle's airbag deployment system was discovered, Detroit News reported.
The company recalled the vehicles in order to fix a software problem that would cause airbags to deploy even in circumstances with no real risk of a collision. Drivers could trigger the airbags by performing "extreme maneuvers" which would then "dramatically change" the car's angle relative to the ground.
The system would deploy the airbags upon sensing that the vehicle could potentially roll over, despite there being no actual threat of that happening. Sudden airbag deployments could startle drivers and potentially cause accidents.
A small number of the accidental deployments occurred in mainly off-road conditions, according to Canadian safety regulators.
Around 170,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees with the model year 2014 and 2015 were recalled from the U.S. Market. The rest of the vehicles recalled were from markets in Canada, Mexico and other areas outside North America, according to Chicago Sun Times.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAM) will inform concerned car owners to go to a dealer and get the software upgrade. The company further stated that it was unaware of any accidents or injuries related to the airbag issue.
This recall is unrelated to last Saturday's, when four automobile manufacturers, including FCAM, issued recalls for 2.3 million vehicles, also due to airbag issues. Last Saturday's recall aimed to provide a new fix after the manufacturers' previous attempts to remedy the electronic defects in 2012, 2013 and 2014 proved to be less than fully effective.
Air bag issues have been a major cause of most vehicle recalls in 2014.
