Toronto, Ontario — Hyundai is recalling 281,000 vehicles in North America over seat-belt pretensioners that are prone to exploding and projecting metal shrapnel, following three separate injury reports.
The recall covers some 2019-2022 Accent, 2021-2023 Elantra, and 2021-2022 Elantra hybrid vehicles. About 42,000 Canadian vehicles are estimated to be affected by the recall.
Seat-belt pretensioners are part of a system that locks the seatbelt in place during a crash to provide additional protection to occupants.
The recall report describes the risk to drivers and passengers, in the event of a crash, as such: “An abnormal pyrotechnic pretensioner deployment could cause metal fragments to enter the vehicle occupant compartment, which may result in injury to vehicle occupants.”
According to Hyundai, dealers will secure seat-belt pretensioners with a cap.
The automaker says they have yet to determine the cause of the issue, though the company has been in contact with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) since September of 2021 to assess an incident where a crash in his 2021 Elantra left a driver with metal fragments in his leg.
