Nissan recalls over 1 million vehicles over airbag software glitch

Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor is recalling over 1 million cars, SUVs and vans mainly in North America over a software glitch which may not activate the front passenger air bag in a crash.

It is the second recall in a little over a year by the carmaker for some of the vehicles to fix the same problem.

The latest recall is for the Altima mid-size car, Leaf electric car, Pathfinder SUV and Sentra compact models from the 2013 and 2014 model years, as well as the NV200 Taxi van and Infiniti JX35 SUV from 2013 and the Infiniti QX60 and Q50 SUVs from 2014.

The recall affects almost 989,701 vehicles in the US, around 60,000 in Canada and the rest in other countries.

Nissan said that the vehicles' software called the occupant classification system, may not detect an adult in the front passenger seat and the air bags may not inflate.

Front passenger seats have sensors that gauge the passenger's weight and turn off air bags off if a child is sitting.

In its filing with US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Nissan said that the system may not work if there is "high engine vibration at idle when the seat is initially empty and then becomes occupied, or unusual occupant seating postures immediately upon being seated."

Nissan noted that there have been accidents, but no injuries or deaths related to the problem.