EU Safety Gate · Report-2016-039

Toyota and Lexus · Prius and RX450h

The subject vehicles are equipped with a “hybrid” type front passenger air bag inflator which contains compressed gas and propellant in the same combustion chamber. The burst disk in some inflators may have been improperly welded and/or misassembled. If this occurs, the disk membrane could burst only from the stored pressure of compressed gas in the inflator, allowing the gas to escape without a deployment command. This could result in the partial inflation of the front passenger air bag. An airbag that inflates in this manner can, under some circumstances, increase the risk of injury and the possibility of a crash.