General Motors announced its recall of nearly 6,000 Chevrolet 2011-2012 Corvette Coupes, 5,755 in the US to be exact, all of whom were built between January 24, 2011 and September 1, 2011. Of the 2011 models, 4,064 are being recalled. As for the 2012 model year coupes, 1,691 are being recalled.

The problem lies in the rear hatch back hinges. These hinges do not pass Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard #206, which standardizes door lock and door-retention components, one of the goals of which is to lessen the likelihood of an occupant not wearing a seat-belt being ejected from a vehicle in a car accident or rollover. The defective hinges could break, leading to a serious injury and the chance that an unsecured passenger could be ejected from the vehicle.

All of the affected Chevrolet Corvette Coupes have one similarity – the defective hinges were traced back to a single roll of heat-treated steel that was used during these vehicles manufacturing process. General Motors is notifying dealerships to inspect and replace the defective hinges for FREE.

Load Rite Trailers, Inc. is recalling certain personal watercraft trailers due to a sizing issue. The trailers affected by this defect are the WV2450W watercraft trailer with a 2010 model year and the LR-AWV2335 watercraft trailer with a 2008, 2009 or 2010 model year.

The problem is that the size of the tires and their rims do not match up. Due to this capacity issue, the trailer is very unstable, presenting a serious safety hazard. The rim can potentially fail and lead to a serious accident, which could result in damage to the watercraft being towed or the vehicle towing the trailer itself and cause personal injury to the vehicle’s occupants or worse!

Owners can call NHTSA at (888) 327-4236 or go to www.safecar.gov . Load Rite Trailer dealers are inspecting and replacing the trailers’ defective wheels and rims for FREE.

BMW recently announced it is recalling certain 2009 X5 diesal crossovers. 2,120 vehicles manufactured between October 1st, 2008 and June 12th, 2009 are affected by the defect.

The root of the problem lies in the engine’s fuel filter heater, which is used to keep the fuel warm in cold, low temperature conditions. An electrical overload could cause the fuel filter heater to never turn off, even when the vehicle is off. This could drain the battery in a relatively short duration of time. In a worst-case scenario, the fuel could overheat and ignite, causing a fire, damage, injury and possibly lead to accidental death.

BMW is contacting owners and notifying dealers to replace the faulty fuel filter heaters at no cost to the owners.

The NHTSA announced a “Preliminary Investigation” into the Ford Fusion sedan after receiving complaints from consumers about the wheel studs, the bolts that holds the cars’ wheels to the body, saying they were fracturing or breaking. This is very dangerous because the wheel can dislodge and possibly fall off completely.

The 2010 Mercury Milan was added to the investigation into 2010 Ford Fusions after the NHTSA began receiving similar complaints about the Mercury Milan. Mercury, a now discontinued subsidiary of Ford Motor Co., received many of the same parts as Ford would and the Milan is Mercury’s equivalent to the Ford Fusion, so it is not hard to see why the NHTSA furthered this investigation to include Mercury. The NHTSA received 29 complaints in total, 4 of which involved the wheel disconnecting from the body of the vehicle entirely. The vehicles affected so far are typically those with low mileage (less>11,000 miles).

The NHTSA has announced that it has bumped its investigation up to “Engineering Analysis” status. This typically follows a Preliminary Investigation when if it pans out. Though no recall has been announced yet involving this specific defect, these are the first steps in the NHTSA’s process to getting vehicles recalled. With the amount of danger this defect possibly presents, its would be no surprise if one was announced soon.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA – “nit-suh”) is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation. The NHTSA conducts safety tests on all types of vehicles and has been charged with the task now for decades. The agency is responsible for the development of the 5-Star Safety Rating System used today to determine how well occupants will be protected in an accident. They pioneered rollover resistance testing and designed new testing dummies to represent a broader variety of occupants. The agency also tests and assesses the new, advanced Crash Avoidance Technology now becoming the standard in most new cars. The NHTSA recently published a safety guide booklet to help consumers make smart, safety-based decisions when it comes to purchasing an automobile titled “Purchasing With Safety In Mind.”

TIMELINE:

1978 – NHTSA began testing frontend collisions and researching possible safety measures to avoid and/or withstand such impacts.

1979 – New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) formed to encourage manufacturers to built safer cars and American consumers to buy them.

1993 – First version of the 5-Star Safety Rating System is implemented to assign scores to similar vehicles based on the amount of safety provided to the occupants.

1996 – Began testing and analyzing side-impact collisions.

2000 – NHTSA first starts testing and scoring vehicles for rollover resistance.

2003 – Rollover Resistance Testing updated to include “untripped” rollovers (ex: driver wakes up behind wheel after falling asleep while driving and jerks the steering wheel, causing a rollover – responsible for 1/3 of all rollovers).

2004 – Established www.safercar.gov

2006 – Require manufacturers to place a “Monroney” sticker on the window of all vehicles being manufactured for sale, providing safety rating information.

2008 – NHTSA designs new tests to provide more accurate safety readings for the 5-Star Safety Rating System, designs new test dummies, creates more stringent criteria, reviews various Advanced Crash Avoidance Technologies and provides consumers with information on their options, etc.

2010 – Implements newest changes to NCAP for 2011 model year vehicles and those later to come.

ENHANCEMENTS TO 5-STAR SAFETY RATING SYSTEM:

NHTSA has recently begun to crack down on auto manufacturers due to violations and safety hazards arising in recent past, resulting in major recalls from multiple manufacturers. Under the new guidelines, the NHTSA will be doing more rigorous tests, which will provide better comprehensive crash data, allowing for tougher, more accurate ratings to be made.

Also, new crash test dummies have been designed to provide more accurate readings and represent a wider variety of occupants of varying height and weight. These newly modeled dummies also provide feedback information on the severity of injuries sustained in each test, with focuses on the cranium, neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis and legs.

The new 5-Star Safety Rating System now combines the safety ratings of each individual test to provide an overall safety rating for the vehicle. The score itself is a combination of the results from the frontal test, the side barrier & pole test, the rollover resistance test, and the projected average relative safety of the fleet. This new score shows how a vehicle compares to the projected average Overall Vehicle Score of other passenger vehicles with similar size & weight – no more than 250lbs difference.

The agency is also widening their efforts in educating consumers to focus on safety. Dealerships are required to have the 5-Star Rating Label (“Monroney” sticker) displayed in the window, providing consumers with crash testing results based on more strict testing & ratings. The NHTSA’s goal is to help consumers make smarter, SAFER decisions when in the market for a vehicle.

NEW TESTS:

Frontal Test: two vehicles going head-on in a collision

Side Barrier Test: two car crash focusing on another vehicle colliding perpendicular into the driver’s side of the vehicle being tested.

Side Pole Test: Simulates a car drifting sideways causing the drivers side to collide with a pole, as one might turning on an icy or oil-slicked road.

Rollover Test: Sharp curve at high speed (55mph) simulating highway or freeway conditions to test a vehicle’s resistance to rollovers.

NEW CRASH AVOIDANCE TECHNOLOGIES:

Electronic Stability Control (ESC):
- computer technology designed to improve vehicle’s safety
- detects skids & adjusts brakes to each tire individually to keep vehicle stable
- compares driver’s intended direction to vehicles actual direction
- activates in emergency evasive swerves, poorly judged turns, slippery roads and hydroplaning
- CANNOT regain control at too great/high of speeds

Forward Collision Warning (FCW):

- aka: “Pre-Crash System”
- uses radar ( and sometimes laser sensors) to detect objects in front of vehicle
-alerts driver when vehicle is getting too close to an object or another vehicle ahead of it
-different manufacturers offer different forms of this warning system

Lane Departure Warning (LDW):

- senses and monitors lanes while vehicle is driving
-alerts driver when vehicle starts to veer out of its intended lane or drift off the road