Sacramento, CA – Subaru of America, Inc. has issued a recall for 118,723 units of its 2020-2022 Outback and Legacy models due to a safety hazard concerning the airbag system. A fault within the vehicle’s airbag sensor may prevent the front passenger airbag from deploying in the event of a crash, posing a significant risk to occupants.
The defect centers around a sensor malfunction within the Occupant Detection System (ODS) that determines the presence of a front passenger. Moisture intrusion can cause a short circuit in the sensor circuit board, leading to potential non-deployment of the airbag during an accident. This flaw significantly increases the risk of passenger injury during collisions.
Subaru has initiated a proactive response to rectify this critical concern by offering to replace the defective ODS sensors at no cost to the vehicle owners or lessees. Notifications to the affected owners are being dispatched, and they are advised to contact Subaru directly or refer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for additional details regarding the recall and corrective measures.
The role of front-mounted sensors in a vehicle’s safety framework is to evaluate and react to a collision’s severity within milliseconds by activating airbag inflators. Airbags are integral to occupant safety, cushioning passengers from intense impact with the vehicle’s interior and distributing collision forces more widely to mitigate injuries.
