Hyundai Recalls 300 Vehicles After Exploding Seat Belt Part Causes Injury

Hyundai Accent Seat Belt Recall Overview:

• Who: Hyundai is recalling 354 of its 2020-2021 Accent vehicles.
• Why: The vehicles contain faulty seat belt pretensioners that can explode during a crash, sending metal fragments into the driver and passenger areas and posing a risk to car occupants.
• Where: The recall is effective nationwide in the United States.

Hyundai is recalling 354 of its 2020-2021 Accent vehicles due to an exploding seat belt part that has caused injuries to car occupants.

In a recall notice posted by the National Highway Transport Safety Administration, Hyundai says that during a crash the front driver side or passenger side seat belt pretensioners of the Accent vehicles may explode.

“An exploding seat belt pretensioner can project metal fragments into the vehicle, striking vehicle occupants and resulting in injury,” the notice says.

The seat belt pretensioner is one of the most important parts of a seat belt system as it locks the belt in place in the event of a crash. However, a faulty pyrotechnic pretensioner could cause metal fragments to fly into the vehicle, which may result in injury to vehicle occupants, the notice says.

Hyundai held a separate recall, 211, for the same issue in 2021, but 2020-2021 Accents were not included. However, on Dec. 3, 2021, a driver in Puerto Rico had a crash in their 2020 Hyundai Accent and the seat belt pretensioner exploded, leading to the current recall.

Hyundai says it is actively investigating the root cause of the issue and that the affected seat belt pretensioners were installed from a suspect production lot.

“At the time of this filing, the cause of the abnormal deployment is unknown,” the company says. “Hyundai is recalling vehicles equipped with pretensioners produced within the same production lot to conduct a detailed part return analysis. The part inspections and investigation will actively continue to determine if a specific root cause and defect trend exists.”

Hyundai To Notify Owners, Offer Replacement At No Cost

Hyundai says it will notify owners of affected vehicles by first class mail by Feb. 25 with instructions to bring their vehicles to a Hyundai dealer to have the seat belt pretensioner replaced.

“This remedy will be offered at no cost for all affected customers. All returned pretensioners will be collected for further analysis into root cause,” the recall notice says.

Earlier this month, Hyundai had to recall 357,830 of its 2016-2018 Santa Fe, 2017-2018 Santa Fe Sport, 2019 Santa Fe XL and 2014-2015 Tucson vehicles due to a risk of engine fires. The carmaker warned drivers to park their vehicles outside and away from structures as they can spontaneously catch fire even when off.  

“Although the cause remains unknown, the manufacturers believe an electrical component in the anti-lock brake system may experience an internal electrical short circuit that could increase the risk of fire both while the vehicle is being driven or parked,” the recall notice says.

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