US auto regulator closes airbag defect petition in about 807,000 Honda Odyssey cars

Sept 29 (Reuters) - A US auto regulator said on Tuesday it had closed a defect petition covering 806,963 Honda Odyssey vehicles in the United States over allegations of inadvertent airbag deployments while the vehicles were in motion.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it had completed its review of a petition covering 2011 to 2017 Honda Odyssey vehicles and found insufficient evidence of a defect trend to warrant a formal probe.

The petition alleged that airbags could deploy without a sufficiently severe triggering event and that the airbag system was recording inaccurate diagnostic information.

The NHTSA said it reviewed consumer complaints and other reports alleging inadvertent deployments but did not identify a clear pattern or factor linking the incidents.

The agency also said it was not aware of any crashes or severe injuries resulting from the alleged deployments.