The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was informed on January 20th by Kia Motors America, Inc. (Kia) that beginning in March 2012, it is recalling approximately 150,000 vehicles because the driver’s side air bag may not deploy in a crash. The recall covers Optima vehicles manufactured from September 29, 2005, through January 29, 2008, and model year 2007 and 2008 Kia Rondo vehicles manufactured from September 13, 2006, through March 21, 2008. Apparently the clock-spring contact assembly for the driver’s side air bag supplemental restraint system (SRS) may become damaged through usage over time. If the clock spring contact assembly becomes damaged, the driver’s side air bag electrical circuit will experience a high resistance condition which could prevent the air bag from deploying. The air bag warning light should come on when this occurs. Interestingly Kia’s parent company Hyundai recalled over 200,000 vehicles not long ago for a very similar defect. The vehicles involved in that particular recall were the 2007 and 2008 Vercruz and Santa Fe Crossovers. If you own one of these vehicles be sure to take it into your dealer immediately to have the defective part replace.
Given the above, if you are in an accident and the air bag deploys fails to deploy, this defect could be the cause. Please report your situation by going to NHTSA's vehicie defect reporting website.
