Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280082
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES|
DATELINE: AUBURN HILLS, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
Chrysler said the move was calculated to salvage the company's image for safety-consciousness, rather than to fix an actual safety defect.
Chrysler said that, under an agreement negotiated during the last two weeks with federal regulators, it would alert the owners of the minivans through letters and a national advertising campaign. The affected vehicles are 1984 through 1994 models of the Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager minivans. There will be no charge for the repair.
The agreement was unusual because lawyers for Chrysler pushed for and got a promise from regulators that the repaired minivans would not be counted in a national registry of recalled vehicles. That, Chrysler hopes, will support its assertion that the minivans do not have a safety defect and prevent the action from being used against the company in about 18 pending product-liability lawsuits.
For 18 months, regulators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have investigated whether the tailgates of the minivans tended to pop open in severe crashes, permitting passengers to be thrown from the vehicles. The investigation and the possibility of a safety recall cast a shadow on a new minivan model that Chrysler plans to start selling this spring.
The agency found 79 instances in which minivan tailgates popped open in accidents, resulting in 87 ejections, 60 injuries and 28 deaths.
by CNB