Current:Home > NewsUS safety agency moves probe of Dodge Journey fire and door lock failure a step closer to a recall -FinanceMind
US safety agency moves probe of Dodge Journey fire and door lock failure a step closer to a recall
View
Date:2025-04-18 17:59:20
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators are a step closer to seeking a recall of nearly a million Dodge Journey SUVs after a woman was trapped and died when her vehicle caught fire in 2022.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration upgraded an investigation opened last year to an engineering analysis and added 11 model years to the probe.
The agency says in documents posted on its website Friday that it now has 19 complaints from owners and the automaker that inoperative door locks and windows can prevent people from getting out of the small SUVs during an emergency. There were no additional fires, injuries or deaths.
The probe started with Journeys from the 2009 model year, but has been expanded to include those sold through 2020. Agency documents say investigators will look at the cause of the fire “and its potential effect on the actuation of the door locks.”
Stellantis, which makes Dodge vehicles, said in a statement that the company is cooperating in the investigation and extends sympathy to the woman’s family.
NHTSA says it also will explore other possible causes for any door lock malfunctions. The Journey owner’s manual says the doors can be unlocked manually by pulling up a plunger on the top of the door trim panel.
A complaint filed with the agency before the investigation began says the woman pulled to the side of a road when warning lights started flashing, windshield wipers came on, the horn started honking, windows wouldn’t go down and the doors wouldn’t unlock. The complaint alleged that fire apparently started in the engine and spread, trapping her inside.
“The driver was unable to exit the vehicle, resulting in her death,” the agency wrote in documents.
Agency documents don’t say where the fire happened, but the Wisconsin State Journal reported in 2023 that 73-year-old Mary Frahm died when her Journey caught fire on Dec. 9, 2022 near Madison.
Frahm had called her fiance and told him she pulled to the side of the road after the Journey started having electrical problems. Later she called back and said smoke was coming from the dashboard and she could smell burning, the newspaper said. She called 911, but by the time first responders had arrived, flames had engulfed the SUV, the newspaper reported.
In 2009, Chrysler LLC recalled about 17,000 Journeys because an unused electrical connector could corrode and short circuit, potentially causing a fire, according to NHTSA documents.
Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said in 2023 that drivers should try to pull up the plunger first to escape if their vehicle’s electrical system malfunctions.
Beyond that, escape is difficult because many windows now have plastic laminated between two layers of glass and are difficult to shatter. He suggested keeping a metal tool in the car and becoming familiar with which windows are tempered glass and can be shattered with the tool.
Laminated glass, he said, helps to prevent people from being thrown from cars in a crash.
He said there’s a need to standardize a way to unlock doors or somehow escape from all cars.
veryGood! (49739)
Related
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- The Bombshell Vanderpump Rules Reunion Finally Has a Premiere Date
- Summer House Preview: Paige DeSorbo and Craig Conover Have Their Most Confusing Fight Yet
- Time is fleeting. Here's how to stay on track with New Year's goals
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- An Ambitious Global Effort to Cut Shipping Emissions Stalls
- Brothers Forever: The Making of Paul Walker and Vin Diesel's Fast Friendship
- Brittney Griner allegedly harassed at Dallas airport by social media figure and provocateur, WNBA says
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- In the hunt for a male contraceptive, scientists look to stop sperm in their tracks
Ranking
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- Report Offers Roadmap to Cleaner Biofuels from Non-Food Sources
- Rihanna, Kaley Cuoco and More Stars Celebrating Their First Mother's Day in 2023
- Government Delays Pipeline Settlement Following Tribe Complaint
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Children's hospitals are struggling to cope with a surge of respiratory illness
- Because of Wisconsin's abortion ban, one mother gave up trying for another child
- Today’s Climate: September 16, 2010
Recommendation
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
LeBron James' Wife Savannah Explains Why She's Stayed Away From the Spotlight in Rare Interview
Demi Lovato Recalls Feeling So Relieved After Receiving Bipolar Diagnosis
Tabitha Brown's Final Target Collection Is Here— & It's All About Having Fun in the Sun
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
See How Days of Our Lives Honored Deidre Hall During Her 5,000th Episode
Editors' picks: Our best global photos of 2022 range from heart-rending to hopeful
A quadriplegic mother on raising twins: Having a disability is not the end of the world