NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE14-004: Inadvertent Side Air Bag Deployment
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE14-004 on January 31, 2014 and closed it on July 29, 2014, the day it opened Engineering Analysis EA14-004, which this investigation's summary cites. NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2008 Honda Accord for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE14-004 (also written PE14004)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed July 29, 2014
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
- Components
- Air Bags; Air Bags — Side/Window
- Vehicles and equipment
- 2008 Honda Accord
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE14-004.
ODI has identified 293 incidents of alleged inadvertent deployment of the side air bags in model year (MY) 2008 Honda Accord 4-door vehicles.
This total represents all incidents reported to both ODI and Honda including those from Honda's warranty system (note: the total shown above eliminates all duplicative reports to ODI and Honda).
This investigation has revealed that when the driver or front passenger door is shut, the driver-side or passenger-side side curtain air bag can deploy, and in some cases, the side seat-mounted torso air bag can deploy as well.
Fourteen people allegedly suffered injuries caused by the deploying air bags.
In June 2008, near the end of MY 2008 Accord 4-door production, Honda changed the crash parameter for door closing force, which is embedded in the electronic control unit's software code, in order to reduce the incidents of the inadvertent side air bag deployments.
More specifically, the software design change was made on June 5, 2008 for the Accords built in the U.S. and on June 30, 2008 for those built in Japan.
ODI found the number of the inadvertent deployment incidents declined significantly for the vehicles with the new crash parameter setting, i.e., the late-built MY 2008 vehicles and all MY 2009 vehicles.
Honda reported the Accord 2-door model utilizes a different software/crash parameter than the subject 4-door model.
This Preliminary Evaluation has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA14-004) to determine, among other things, the risk of air bag deployment injuries to vehicle users in vulnerable positions.
The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification numbers: 10232206, 10235294, 10255323, 10268158, 10268191, 10269514, 10276755, 10279446, 10280675, 10308292, 10319979, 10342520, 10353536, 10408925, 10436506, 10447151, 10458732, 10468196, 10468200, 10493407, 10494971, 10522291, 10524389, 10543092, 10544473, 10545258, 10547591, 10554073, 10563629, 10565311, 10565423, 10576518, 10579241, 10584501, 10585442, 10606937, 10608973.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE14-004. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Honda
Honda Accord
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Honda VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE14-004
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.