General Motors recalls 4.3 million vehicles for rare airbag defect

General Motors is recalling nearly 4.3 million vehicles worldwide for a software defect that can prevent airbags from deploying during a crash, the company announced Friday. The issue has been linked to one death and three injuries.

GM said Friday that there's a software defect with the sensing and diagnostic module that controls airbag deployment. The company said airbags may not deploy in "rare circumstances when a crash is preceded by a specific event impacting vehicle dynamics."

It's not great news considering GM is just coming off its ignition recall scandal. The automaker recalled 2.6 million vehicles in 2014 for defective ignition switches that could flip out of the "run" position while the car is moving and turn off the power and disable airbags. A 2015 CNN article said the flawed ignition switch killed 124 people and injured another 275.

GM recently settled the remaining two ignition-switch cases for an undisclosed amount in September.

The latest GM recall comes at a time of heightened attention to airbag defects following the massive Takata airbag recall. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has expanded its Takata airbag recall to an estimated 35 million to 40 million inflators on top of original 28.8 million recall.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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