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Suburban teen’s Toyota RAV4 burst into flames on expressway 2 weeks before recall issued
The advocacy group The Center for Auto Safety said laws put the responsibility on consumers to do their own research on advisories and recalls before buying used. “The burden is definitely on the consumer, and it really pays to do your research on manufacturer service bulletins and communications with dealers, because you can find a…
Thousands of Ford owners may be at risk of injury from flawed air bag repairs
Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said more vehicles should be reinspected. “I think Ford needs to go back and do a full audit to make sure no one has received a fake Takata repair, that they don’t miss anything,” Brooks said. “They need to find every vehicle that hasn’t received…
Honda HR-V rear windows are suddenly shattering: ‘Like bang!’
Brooks worries about exploding glass in a moving vehicle becoming a dangerous distraction, not to mention the possibility of stolen property if a window shatters while a car is parked. “A recall is an acknowledgment that you screwed up and you’re making it right with your customers,” Brooks says. By Stephanie Zimmermann February 20, 2024…
U.S. safety agency deepens probe of Tesla power steering loss
Michael Brooks, executive director at the consumer advocacy group Center for Auto Safety, noted the agency had identified steering rack part numbers, suggesting it was examining possible hardware defects. The high failure rates of the new models suggest that “there is a significant issue here,” Brooks said. By David Shepardson and Hyunjoo Jin February 2,…
Preliminary test crashes indicate the nation’s guardrail system can’t handle heavy electric vehicles
“Guardrails are kind of a safety feature of last resort. I think what you’re seeing here is the real concern with EVs — their weight. There are a lot of new vehicles in this larger-size range coming out in that 7,000-pound range. And that’s a concern.” – Michael Brooks, Executive Director of the Center for…
Honda HR-V rear windows are shattering in the cold. Consumer Reports says the car should be recalled.
Honda HR-V owners have lodged more than 300 complaints about shattered rear windshields with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is an unusually high number for a newer model, Michael Brooks, executive director at the advocacy group Center for Auto Safety, told Consumer Reports. By Aimee Picchi January 23, 2024 Hundreds of Honda HR-V…
Honda HR-V Rear Windows Are Shattering. Here’s What Owners Should Do.
“When you read through the complaints on those incidents, drivers generally appear to be pretty unsettled by these events,” says Michael Brooks, executive director at the Center for Auto Safety, an advocacy group. “I think it is reasonable to presume that we will see crashes related to such incidents, given enough failures.” By Keith Barry…
Congress demands answers after safety regulator misses deadline on potentially lifesaving new rules for vehicle seats
By Kris Van Cleave January 17, 2024 The nation’s top auto safety regulator was given two years by order of Congress to make vehicle seats stronger, following a multi-year CBS News investigation. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, missed the deadline. Now, 10 U.S. senators are demanding answers. “I’m going to turn up…
Fred Perkins’ 2024 New Years Resolutions
Engineering Resolutions 2024 NHTSA Vehicle adaptive speed control with speed limit exceedance warnings and speed limiters Automatic mitigation of drunk, inattentive, reckless, or otherwise dangerous driving behavior FMVSS for protection from animals, children, and incapacitated people and animals in overheated cars. Objective safety standard or type approval process for ADAS and AV operations on public…
Tesla Autopilot Recall Threatens Its Defense in Lawsuits Over Crashes
The company’s acknowledgment in the notice that safeguards around its Autosteer feature “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse” amounts to an admission of a safety defect, said Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. By Malathi Nayak December 15, 2023 Tesla Inc.’s biggest vehicle recall ever threatens to hurt the…