NHTSA investigating Jeep Liberty for arbitrary airbag deployment

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced last week it has launched an investigation into claims of inadvertent deployment of frontal airbags involving 2002 and 2003 model-year Jeep Liberty vehicles.

According to information at the NHTSA's Web site www.safercar.gov, 87 reports of spontaneous airbag deployment have been filed involving the Jeep Liberty; of those, 42 people suffered injuries including “burns, cuts and bruises to the upper body region.”

In some cases, airbags deployed upon engine start-up, while in other instances the vehicle was in motion. The NHTSA notes a number of reports mentioned an airbag warning light in the dash lit up or intermittently illuminated prior to airbag deployment.

Chrysler has told NHTSA it is looking into the claims and trying to identify the root cause. Chrysler added there have been no reports filed for vehicles manufactured after March 19, 2003, although Chrysler claims it is not aware of any production process changes at that time that could provide an explanation.

A Chrysler representative added, “We are cooperating fully with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with the engineering analysis with 2002-2003 Jeep Liberty models to determine the root cause of this condition.”

At this time, no recall has been issued; as the investigation unfolds, we’ll keep you posted.