A possible damage to the front passenger presence sensory (PPS) system has made Chevy announce a recall for certain 2009-2010 Impala vehicles.

The safety campaign is aimed at 289,254 units, manufactured from April 25, 2008, to February 16, 2010, whose front passenger seat frame may rub against the wires of the PPS module, damaging them. In extreme cases, the sensor won’t recognize if the passenger seat is occupied and could improperly suppress the airbag in the event of a crash.

Moreover, in rare circumstances, a damaged PPS module could cause the airbag fuse to short, leading to a loss of all airbags and seatbelt pretensions, though Chevrolet states that the driver will be alerted with “at least three warnings”, which include the passenger airbag status indicator pointing to “off”, plus an illuminated airbag telltale light and a service airbag message displayed in the driver information center.

Work carried out by dealers will include double-wrapping the wires with anti-abrasion tape and replacing some of them if necessary, at no cost to the owners, who should be contacted soon by General Motors and notified of the issue.

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