It has not been a good past few weeks for Chrysler. After recently announcing the recall of 2.7 million Jeeps due to a risk of vehicles involved in car accidents bursting into fire, it just announced the recall of 490,000 additional automobiles. This recall is due to issues with the active head restraints designed to protect occupants of the vehicles should the car be involved in a collision. Certain model years of the following makes of cars are involved: Dodge Nitro, Chrysler 200, Chrysler Sebring, Jeep Liberty, and Dodge Avenger.

More specifically the recall was due to a defective part used in the safety system. In some cases, the microcontrollers used were defective. According to the car maker, the faulty components are a result of a shortage of the devices that arose after the tragic earthquake and accompanying tsunami that occurred in Japan in 2011.

There are three different types of product defects that could leave a consumer injured. In a situation such as this one where a component of the vehicle is not working the way it is supposed to, the issue is considered a manufacturing defect. This is simply because the problem with the product, in this case an automobile, is due to the way in which it is made.

So far, it does not appear that anyone has been injured as a result of the defective auto component. The recall is apparently Chrysler’s attempt to address the problem before someone is seriously hurt in a car accident because of it.

Source: CNN, “Chrysler recalls nearly half-million vehicles over head restraint issue,” Greg Botelho, July 5, 2013