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Tank recall fails to stop fires, deaths

The Columbian
Published: February 11, 2015, 4:00pm

DETROIT — As Kayla White slowed her SUV behind two other cars to exit a suburban Detroit freeway on Veterans Day, it was rammed from behind by a Cadillac STS. Her red 2003 Jeep Liberty bounced off a Nissan in front of it, rolled onto its side and exploded. Firefighters arrived in just three minutes but were too late. White, a 23-year-old restaurant hostess who was eight months pregnant, died of burns and smoke inhalation.

White is one of more than 70 people killed in fires involving older Jeeps with plastic fuel tanks mounted behind the rear axle.

Fiat Chrysler, which makes Jeeps, recalled 1.56 million of them in June 2013 under pressure from U.S. safety regulators. But only 12 percent of the SUVs have been repaired in the 18 months since the recall. And White’s Jeep was not among those fixed.

Last week, prosecutors charged the Cadillac driver with committing a moving violation that caused a death. But safety advocates and the lawyer for White’s family say the blame belongs as much, if not more, on Chrysler and an auto-industry safety system that moves too slowly to prevent tragedy.

The rear-mounted tanks have little structure to protect them if struck from behind, making them susceptible to punctures and fires. Moving the gas tank in front of the axle would be expensive and difficult, so Chrysler’s remedy is to install trailer hitches on the Jeeps as an extra layer of protection. Government testing showed the hitches protected the tanks in crashes up to 40 mph when stationary Jeeps were hit from behind. But at higher speeds, they wouldn’t help.

Since the recall was announced, more than 840 people complained that Chrysler dealers didn’t have hitches available, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration database.

As of Jan. 14, Chrysler had repaired only 12 percent of the Jeeps despite two letters from NHTSA demanding faster action. That leaves more than 1.3 million Jeeps still on the road with gas tanks in a vulnerable position. Chrysler is offering Jeep owners free oil changes and $150 gift cards for parts and accessories as an incentive to get a hitch. But the company cautions that in recalls such as this, owners can be hard to find because the vehicles are up to 22 years old.

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