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.
DETROIT ? 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.
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.
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.
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