The assumptions on equipment and the resulting computer modeling of the crash were wrong.
GM is recalling all model year 2008-2009 Pontiac G8 vehicles because the front occupant can be harmed in crash. The GM airbag recall is prompted by head injury criteria (hic) measurements that far exceed the limits imposed by U.S. regulations. More than 38,000 vehicles are involved in the U.S.
It seems that with the front passenger-seat in the full forward position, the seat position sensor will cause a 30-millisecond deployment delay between the first and second stages of the dual-stage frontal passenger air bag. The delay increases the risk of head injury to the occupant.
GM dealers will reprogram the sensing and diagnostic module at now charge as is required by U.S. safety regulations. GM has not yet provided an owner notification schedule to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Owners may contact Pontiac at 1-800-620-7668. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to http://www.safercar.gov.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Hmmm. So the Aussies didn’t fully vet the G8? Tsk Tsk Tsk
One wonders whether NHTSA testing or GM Milford uncovered this. Took ’em a while.
It was police car testing in Australia, if I’m reading the carefully written NHTSA filing correctly – coupled with the fact that the defective or incorrectly calibrated seat sensor wasn’t supposed to be on the U.S. versions, but it was…