NHTSA has, in the past, said that installing trailer hitches onto the Jeeps does provide additional protection and continues to urge all owners to take recalled Jeeps to dealers and have the trailer hitch installed. The regulatory agency also levied civil penalties of up to $105 million last year for taking too long to complete the Jeep SUV recall along with other recalls. "These are tragic accidents caused by factors such as excessive speed and driver distraction," FCA said in a statement. "Two dozen peer-vehicles had higher (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) incident rates than vehicles subject to the NHTSA investigation in question 15 of which are equipped with fuel tanks of the same design."Ī NHTSA spokesman said the agency just received the letter today and is unable to comment on the safety group's claims. The Auburn Hills automaker contends that Ditlow counts fatal accidents in his data that should be excluded because other factors other than the location of the fuel tank contributed and continues to say its Jeep SUVs are no more dangerous than similar vehicles. "More people will die from fire in recalled Chrysler Jeeps because the recall remedy negotiated behind closed doors by Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, (former) DOT Secretary Ray LaHood and (former) NHTSA Administrator David Strickland is totally ineffective," Ditlow said in his letter. The deaths show that installing a trailer hitch to protect gas tanks in low-speed crashes hasn’t been effective, said Clarence Ditlow, head of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, in a letter to NHTSA dated today. The Center for Auto Safety said it found a total of 19 deaths that involved older model Jeeps that caught fire in a fatal accident database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since NHTSA asked for the recall in June 2013. A top safety advocate is calling for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to reopen its investigation into rear-mounted fuel tanks on older model Jeep SUVs, saying they continue to be dangerous even after they're repaired based on a 2013 recall.
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