U.S. Widens Probe of Chrysler Minivans’ Rear Lift Gates
The federal government broadened a safety probe of Chrysler Corp.’s minivans Thursday by asking the public to report any instances of rear lift gates opening during crashes.
The unusual move by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was criticized immediately by Chrysler as well as safety advocates, who said it would unnecessarily delay the investigation’s completion.
“If you are criticized by both sides, you must be doing something right,” said Kenneth Weinstein, NHTSA assistant chief counsel. “We feel we need more information on what is happening in the real world.”
For more than a year, the agency has been examining whether to recall more than 4 million Chrysler minivans, produced from 1984 to 1994, because the rear-door latches may be too weak to hold during crashes. Federal records show there have been at least 51 crashes in which Chrysler minivan lift gates unexpectedly opened, resulting in 74 passenger ejections and 25 deaths.
While federal regulators are seeking information on rear-door openings during crashes of all makes of minivans, sedans, station wagons and sport utility vehicles, it is being conducted as part of the Chrysler probe and the auto maker was the only company whose name was mentioned.
The investigation comes at a sensitive time for both federal safety regulators and Chrysler.
The image of the Department of Transportation, which oversees the NHTSA, was soiled by the handling of the recall of General Motor Corp.’s full-size pickups equipped with side-mounted gas tanks.
The department said the trucks were defective, but it dropped the recall in December after GM agreed to spend $51 million on safety programs. Now the agency also faces scrutiny by a Republican Congress looking to reduce government regulation and cut budgets.
The probe is painful for Chrysler because the minivan--a market segment the company virtually created--is its most popular vehicle and is credited with saving the auto maker from extinction in the 1980s.
It also comes as the company is preparing to launch a redesigned 1996 model of the Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town and Country. This is the first major minivan remake since its 1983 introduction.
The new minivan is not part of the current probe. But the company is embroiled in a legal battle with a former product planner who claims both the old and new models have safety problems.
“These vehicles are 100% safe,” Chrysler spokesman Steve Harris said of the safety-latch controversy. He said 63 other vehicles with hatches or lift gates have worse records for rear openings during crashes than Chrysler’s minivans.
Ralph Hoar, a Washington-based auto safety consultant involved in litigation against Chrysler, maintains that the NHTSA already has ample evidence to order a recall and that the call for information from the public “does nothing but cause delay.”
NHTSA has set up a toll-free hot line for consumers to call. The number is (800) 424-9393.
Separately, the NHTSA upgraded an investigation into complaints of leaking transmission fluid causing engine compartment fires in some General Motors minivans.
