« CHEROKEE RUNAWAY PROBE SOUGHT, FAN DEFECT RECALLED | Main | REPORTS OF IMPALA HEADLIGHT FAILURE PROMPT PROBE »
June 16, 2006
DODGE MINIVANS LACK OF INTERLOCK CALLED A LETHAL DEFECT
A Georgia television news team has reported on deaths and injuries related to an alleged defect in Dodge Caravans made prior to 2001. The incidents involve the ability of small children and others to inadvertently shift the vehicles transmission out of park, thus allowing it to roll and in some cases, roll over others in its path. An attorney interviewed by the station, Yehuda Smolar, he is aware of more than two dozen similar cases of death and injury nationwide, always in Chrysler-made vehicles made before 2001.
The problem, Smolar said, is that Chrysler waited until 2001 to do what other car makers had already done -- install a brake shift interlock in its vehicles that requires drivers to press the brake pedal down, after turning the key in the ignition, in order to shift out of park. Smolar reportedly has filed four separate lawsuits against Daimler-Chrysler in connection with the absence of a brake shift interlock. He said that parents should be alerted to the problem.
Posted by MVHAP at June 16, 2006 11:49 AM