Nissan Recalls Nearly 1 Million Cars for Air Bag Software Fix

Also, Iowa mayor asks why return money from software error as Maryland abandons state’s ACA website

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Nissan Recalls Nearly 1 Million Cars for Air Bag Software Fix
Nissan Leaf
Photo: Nissan

IT Hiccups of the Week

Last week saw a marked increase in the number and types of IT-related errors, bugs and malfunctions being reported.  However, as we have the past few weeks, we again begin this week’s IT Hiccups edition with an auto-related IT issue.

According to the Washington Post, 989 701 Nissan and Infiniti 2013 and 2014 model year vehicles are being recalled to fix a problem in the software that controls air bag deployment for the front seat passenger. They include: 544 000 Altima sedans; 29 000 Leaf electric vehicles; 124 000 Pathfinder SUVs; 183 000 Sentra compact cars; 6700 NV2000 taxis; and 104 000 Infiniti JX35, Q50 and QX60 vehicles.

The Post states that, “Unfortunately, the software installed on the vehicles…may incorrectly determine that the passenger seat is empty when it is, in fact, occupied. If that were to happen, and if the vehicle were subsequently involved in an accident, the passenger‐seat airbags would fail to deploy, increasing the possibility of injury or death.”

A New York Timesarticle says that, “The automaker blamed the sensitivity of the software calibration, particularly when ‘a combination of factors such as high engine vibration at idle when the seat is initially empty and then becomes occupied’ or an ‘unusual’ seating posture are factors.”

Nissan indicates that it was aware of three such accidents, although no fatalities were reported, as a result of the collisions where airbags failed to activate. The company is working on a patch for the software, which should be available in the next few weeks.

In another software-related automobile recall, General Motors is recalling 656 of its 2014 Cadillac ELR vehicles in order to recalibrate software in the electronic control brake module that is part of its electronic stability control system.  GM also announced last week that it was recalling another 824 000 vehicles for issues with defective ignition switches I discussed a few weeks ago. It also announced recalls of another 662 000 other vehicles for various other mechanical issues. GM has now recalled over 4.8 million vehicles since the beginning of year. This week GM and the National Highway Transport Safety Administration will face Congressional hearings on their roles in regard to the delayed ignition switch recall.

Iowa Mayor Unhappy About Disclosure of Crime Reporting Software Problem

Matt Walsh, the mayor of Council Bluffs, Iowa, is reportedly very unhappy that the state government was told by a local county board member that the new software system the local police use to record crime statistics was flawed. According to a World‐Herald News Service article, the Council Bluffs police department began using software last year provided by the Iowa Department of Transportation to enter local crime statistics. However, a software programming error “upgraded” many of the crimes entered. For instance, a simple assault reported by the police instead got changed by the software into a more serious aggravated assault.

The problem with the new software helped explain why Council Bluffs was recently listed as No. 56 on the most 100 most dangerous places to live in the U.S., the World-Herald said. Now, one would think the city’s mayor would be happy about the flaw being discovered and his city’s reputation as a criminal haven being rehabilitated. Yet, the Des Moines Register states that Mayor Welsh was incensed. Why? Well, the state provides crime enforcement grant funding to the city based on crime statistics, and the mayor is now worried the city may have to return some of the state grant money it received.

The Register quotes the mayor as saying, “What kind of individual runs to the state and tattles? …This money is to fight crime.” The mayor also claims that since the police department originally reported its crimes correctly, it isn’t the city’s fault that the software system provided by the state screwed up, so the money it previously received from the state is rightfully the city’s.

Hmm… maybe the teenager who found $31 000 mistakenly deposited in his account by the First Citizens Bank in Hull, Georgia a few weeks ago and who decided to spend it should have used the same ethical reasoning, instead of lying and pretending that the money was deposited on purpose as part his share of an inheritance from his grandmother’s estate.

Maryland Throws in the Towel on its Affordable Care Act Website

Today is the last day to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (with some exceptions) until the next open enrollment season. To say the least, the introduction of the ACA on 1 October 2013 has been interesting to watch from an IT system risk mismanagement perspective, both at the federal and state level. Even now, the federal site still is reporting access issues.

However, five states— Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Vermont— have given star performances in how not to create a state ACA website and supporting infrastructure systems. An Associated Press article provides a decent overview of the health insurance exchange implementation problems encountered in each state, as does another story at VTDigger.org that examines the issues confronting the Massachusetts and Vermont exchanges in greater depth.

However, for sheer incompetence, Maryland’s ACA implementation debacle really stands out (although Oregon's comes in a close second). After spending at least $125.5 million, Maryland has decided to basically abandon its exchange, the Washington Post reported. The state reportedly will be using the exchange system Connecticut has developed and is eager to sell to other states, which seems to work better than most.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched an investigation into what went wrong with the Maryland's health insurance exchange. However, it is unlikely that any results will be published before the state primary elections in June. The reason is that Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who once proudly proclaimed that he was in charge of the Maryland ACA implementation, is running for governor, and I doubt the federal government wants to be seen as possibly interfering with the election. To say that Brown was asleep at the health exchange switch would be to assume, given his role in the unfolding debacle and his very recent claims that the exchange implementation is a “success,” that he knew where the switch was in the first place.

In Other News…

FAA Instructs Boeing to Fix Critical 747-8 Software Flaw

System Issues Delay Bombardier Learjet 85 First Flight

Illinois Demands DUI Offenders’ Pay Fines Years after Computer Error

Soyuz Spacecraft Suffers Software Issue on Trip to Space Station

Northern Ireland Hospital Staff hit by £400k Payroll Shortfall

Hundreds of Irish Motorists Receive Fines after M50 Toll Glitch

Price Glitch Charges £450 for Loaf of Bread in Wolverhampton, England

Denver-based Public Service Credit Union Experiences Four Days of Computer Problems

Allied Irish Bank Customers Double‐charged

 

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