If you turn on your Nissan Rogue and discover a flashing airbag light, this means there is something wrong with your SUV’s supplemental restraint system (SRS)—which includes the front, side, and curtain airbags—or the pretensioner system. It’s best to take your Rogue in for service as soon as possible.

Part of

maintaining any vehicle

is responding promptly when warning lights or system alerts turn on, like your Nissan Rogue’s airbag light. While it’s clear you need to get your Rogue to a trustworthy

car repair

expert, you still might want to know what this warning actually means and how you can reset it once the problem’s cleared. Let’s find out.

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What does the airbag light mean on a Nissan Rogue?

When you start up your Nissan Rogue, its airbag module system performs a self-diagnosis to ensure that everything is working properly. If it isn’t, a red

airbag light

will appear on the dashboard and start flashing intermittently.

The airbag light icon usually looks like a buckled passenger with a deployed airbag to the left of them, represented by a circle. In some cases, there will be an “X” over the airbag and/or the word “off” to indicate that the SRS system (aka your airbags) is not functioning.

While there’s no uniform reason for your Rogue’s flashing airbag light, here are some of the more common culprits:

Locked seat belt sensor—if one of your Rogue’s seatbelt sensors is stuck in the “locked” position, this can cause your airbag light to come in. You can try troubleshooting this by tugging on each seatbelt to get the sensor moving.

Faulty wiring in the seat sensor—underneath your front seats, a wiring harness lets the airbag system know someone is occupying the space. If these wires short out or get dislodged or damaged, they will trigger the airbag warning light.

Worn down clock spring—the airbag clock spring is connected to your Rogue’s steering wheel and helps wire the driver-side airbag. As it coils and recoils with your steering wheel’s movements, both the spring and the electrical connection can break down, leading to that flashing airbag light.

Damaged airbag module and sensors—when water gets into your vehicle, it can corrode the airbag module and sensors and prevent them from working properly. Your airbag light will consequently turn on as a warning. In this case, it’s more than likely you’ll need to have the module replaced.

Airbag backup battery has drained—sometimes when your Rogue’s battery drains, it uses power from the backup airbag battery until it’s fully charged again. If your backup battery continues to deplete, though, the airbag warning will light up.

Airbag has been deployed, but not reset—when you get into an accident and your airbags go off, the airbag system needs to be reset. The airbag light will continue to flash until you reset it.

Of course, this list isn’t conclusive—there are several other reasons why your Rogue’s airbag light might be flashing. If you’re unable to pinpoint the cause on your own and you want a better idea of what’s happening before heading to the mechanic, you can always purchase or use an OBD-II scanner to look at the

trouble codes

associated with the problem.

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What you need to know about the 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue airbag recall

Nissan put out a recall in 2016 for Rogue models manufactured between 2014 and 2017 (along with some

Nissan Maxima

and

Nissan Altima

models) due to a faulty occupant classification sensor.

Essentially, this system’s role is to determine the classification of a front passenger as an adult or child based on their weight. If the passenger is a child, the front airbag is subsequently turned off to prevent injury.

In the affected models, however, the sensors were misclassifying adult front-seat passengers as children—which can dangerously lead to the airbags turning off for adults (who very much need them in a collision).

If you own a Rogue model from 2014 to 2017, it’s a good idea to

run your VIN

with your local Nissan dealer to see if this is an issue in your particular vehicle. If so, you’ll need to get it replaced.

MORE: The Takata airbag recall: Everything you need to know

How to reset the airbag warning light on a Nissan Rogue

Failing to reset your airbag warning light after an airbag has deployed is one of the reasons why your airbag light might be blinking in the first place. Here’s how to reset it:

Put your Rogue in accessory mode—to do so, turn the ignition on without starting the engine or press “Start” twice without hitting the brakes.

The airbag light will turn on and stay on briefly. Once it blinks off, turn your Rogue off immediately.

Count to five.

Repeat steps one through three two more times for a total of three cycles.

Turn your Rogue on (without the engine) and watch the airbag light—it should be blinking in a slower pattern, indicating it’s in diagnostic mode.

Turn the Rogue off again (no rush this time), wait for five seconds, and turn it back on with the engine.

If done properly, the airbag warning light should stay off. In the event that your light is still flashing, try the procedure again—you may want to check with your Nissan’s

owner’s manual

to ensure you’re following the right steps. Should your light remain on after that, it’s time to head to the mechanic for further inspection.

MORE: Nissan reset indicator lights

Is it OK to drive with the Nissan Rogue airbag light on?

Technically, yes. It’s still possible to drive your Nissan Rogue when the airbag light is on and flashing. However, it’s neither safe nor sustainable to do so.

The purpose of your airbag light is to warn you when something is wrong with your airbag system. Ignoring it puts you in danger of your airbags failing to deploy or deploying improperly in a collision, which could very likely lead to a serious injury to you and your passengers—possibly death. Because of this, the best call is to get your Rogue to a professional mechanic as soon as you notice the airbag light flashing.

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