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Safety Group Urges Recall of Jeep Grand Cherokees for Potential Fire Hazard

A leading consumer advocacy group is urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall Grand Cherokees because of fire hazards from the fuel tanks.

According to the Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety, Grand Cherokees from model years between 1993 and 2004 have a post-crash fire risk that is approximately 4 times greater than sports utility vehicles made by other companies. The agency’s director Clarence Ditlow, has written to the NHTSA about research which indicates that between 1992, when the Grand Cherokee was introduced into the market, and 2008, there were 172 fatal accidents resulting in a fire. These accidents caused 254 fatalities.  These numbers include 44 fatal accidents in which 64 people died, and where investigators believed that the fire caused the fatalities. Ditlow is urging a recall of the Grand Cherokee.  He says that the agency began its investigation of the 1971 to 1976 Ford Pinto cars because of similar gas tank fire hazards, based on far fewer numbers of accidents.

According to the petition, the fuel systems in these SUV’s have a defective design. The Cherokee contain a plastic fuel tank that is highly susceptible to rupture. Further, the tank is susceptible to decreased performance over a period of time, and comes with a fuel filler neck that can be damaged in certain types of accidents. The tank is surrounded by sharp objects that can rupture the tank during impact. If all that isn’t dangerous enough, the tank is positioned in a unsafe manner below the bumper, and is unprotected.  The petition by the Center for Auto Safety is asking the agency to pull off 2.3 million of these Cherokees that are still on the road.

Chrysler’s statement defending the Jeep Grand Cherokee is painful for at least one New Jersey family that still remembers the horrible day their loved one was burnt to death in a rear end collision involving a Cherokee. In February 2007, Susan Kline’s Cherokee was rear ended by another car. The fuel tank ruptured, and the SUV burst into flames. Kline’s body had to be identified through dental records. Her children were 16 and 13 years old at the time of her death.

In Kline’s case, the fire was the main cause of death, and her remains had no other signs of trauma. By all accounts, the 49-year-old woman tried desperately to get out of the car after the fire broke out. Her body was found on the passenger seat where she likely tried to escape from the burning car, only to find that the passenger side door was jammed.

A former product manager at Chrysler, Paul Sheridan has spoken of Chrysler’s knowledge that the Cherokee tank was defective. According to him, the company knew that the tank was defective right from the very beginning, but failed to act.  California personal injury lawyers will be hoping that the NHTSA at the very least conducts a complete investigation of the Cherokee, and if necessary initiates a recall.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of gas tank explosions. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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