Consumer crusader Ralph
Nader is calling on Fiat to recall 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees,
saying they are "a modern day Pinto for soccer
moms with a fuel tank located dangerously behind the rear axle in
the crush zone of an impact. "
"Now that Fiat has purchased Chrysler, it has the moral obligation to remedy the deadly fuel tank design in the Jeep Grand Cherokee before more innocent victims are burned today, not only in the United States, but also in Europe,” Nader said in a speech in Milan, Italy, where he had received an award from an automotive magazine.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been conducting an investigation of the problem and could order a recall of 3 million of the vehicles. Chrysler has defended the Jeeps and said they do not pose an unusual risk.
NHTSA opened its investigation in August 2010 after finding that the fuel tank may have been linked to 22 crashes and 14 deaths. But the Nader-founded Center for Auto Safety says it has found 44 accidents in which the fuel tank has burst into flames, causing 64 deaths.
"The victims include mothers like Susan Kline who had just dropped her two children off at school and was hit from behind by a 2004 Toyota Sienna when she slowed her 1996 Grand Cherokee for a car stopped in front of her," Nader said in a statement on the Center for Auto Safety Web site.
"Her door jammed shut in the crash and Mrs Kline struggled unsuccessfully to get out the passenger side but was burned alive."
Nader cited two other fatal accidents and said that in all three crashes, "the striking vehicles had low front ends that submarined under the Jeep and into the fuel system structure behind the rear axle."
While Fiat is not responsible for the design of the 1993-2004 Grand Cherokee, "It has the moral obligation to remedy the deadly fuel tank design in the Jeep Grand Cherokee before more innocent victims are burned today, not only in the United States, but also in Europe where Chrysler marketed the Grand Cherokee since 1994 in its Build Up for Export (BUX) plan."
Nader noted that when DaimlerChrysler owned the Jeep brand, Daimley ordered the fuel tank moved to a safer location, beginning with 2005 models.
The subcompact Ford Pinto was
recalled by Ford in 1978 after Nader and other safety advocates
claimed it was unusually prone to burst into flames in rear-end
collisions.
