New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow is being recalled.
The highly touted yellow cab model, also known as the NV200, was among the 3.2 million Nissan models recalled due to a problem with a sensor that detects if the front passenger seat is occupied and if that passenger is an adult or a child. Defective sensors might incorrectly think that an adult is a child or classify the seat as empty, thus turning off the air bag.
The recall will likely affect hacks' bottom line as they take cars into dealerships for repairs, but it may not have much of an impact on passenger safety since most fares sit in the back seats.
"This would be a really big loss if it takes Nissan a week to get this thing fixed you're talking about still paying operating expenses and losing out on income," said Bhairavi Desari, a spokeswoman with the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.
The Nissan NV200 began phasing into the city's taxi fleets in September and the model currently makes up about 10 percent of cabs on New York City streets.
It's not clear how many taxis in the city's fleet are affected by the recall. The process for having repairs done to recalled taxis is also unclear.
The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission said that it has been in close contact with Nissan about a repair plan.
"Nissan has advised us that the vehicles are safe to drive and, in an abundance of caution, they have made some precautionary recommendations," the TLC said in a statement.
Other models in the recall include the 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, LEAF and Sentra, 2013-2017 Nissan Pathfinder, Infiniti QX60 and Q50, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Chevrolet City Express and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles.
