Fiat Chrysler earlier this year recalled certain Jeep Grand Cherokees for their rollaway risk after drivers were injured when they mistakenly thought they had shifted their car to park.
Star Trek star Anton Yelchin was killed at his San Fernando Valley home on Saturday night when his own car pinned him to his mailbox at the bottom of a steep driveway. Yelchin was alone and, according to TMZ, the car was a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Friends found Yelchin when they went to his house after he failed to turn up to rehearsal.
The voluntary recall, in April 2016, impacted 2014 to 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees that were manufactured between July 16, 2012, and December 22, 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Its unclear which model was involved in Yelchins accident, as well as what exactly led up to the 27-year-olds death. The LAPD did not respond to requests for comment.
http://gizmodo.com/anton-yelchin-death-jeep-cherokees-were-recalled-for-c-1782255236
Anton Yelchin Death: Jeep Grand Cherokees Were Recalled for Rollaway Risk
http://gizmodo.com/anton-yelchin-death-jeep-cherokees-were-recalled-for-c-1782255236
Anton Yelchin Death: Jeep Grand Cherokees Were Recalled for Rollaway Risk
I'm one year older then him!No way, he's only a year older than me o_o
RIP
Christ, I chuckled at that. >_<Every celebrity needs to wrap themselves in bubble wrap until 2016 is over.
Just make sure to leave air holes.
http://gizmodo.com/anton-yelchin-death-jeep-cherokees-were-recalled-for-c-1782255236
Anton Yelchin Death: Jeep Grand Cherokees Were Recalled for Rollaway Risk
As we reported, Yelchin's driveway is on a steep incline from the house to the street. It appears the "Star Trek" star had just left his home and cleared the security gate ... but for some reason it appears he got out and left the vehicle in neutral.
Yelchin's 5,000 pound Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backwards and pinned him against the gate with such force, it bent the metal.
In February, we reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was looking into certain Fiat Chrysler electronic shifters, which seemed to cause cars to roll away after they were parked. Well, now it looks like Fiat Chrysler has decided to recall 1.1 million vehicles to prevent such a vehicular runaway.
Fiat Chrysler announced today in a press release that it is voluntarily recalling 1.1 million cars worldwide equipped with the ZF eight-speed shifter you see below. These vehicles include 2012-2014 Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s and 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Of the 1.1 million vehicles, approximately 811,000 are in the U.S., while 52,000 are in Canada, 17,000 are in Mexico and the remaining 249,000 are outside of North America.
Unlike traditional automatic transmission shifters, the ZF shifter in Fiat Chrysler’s vehicles (similar to shifters found in other new vehicles like the BMW 320i), returns to the same position after each driver input. There’s no physical “park” or “drive” gear lever position, only a light that changes from D to P.
In addition, there’s a warning chime if the driver-side door is open and the engine is not in the “park” position. Fiat Chrysler says all this still wasn’t sufficient feedback for drivers to know what gear their cars were in, so “some drivers... exited their vehicles without first selecting ‘PARK.’”
The result was people watching their vehicles essentially just drive away. The company says it knows of 41 injuries that might be related to this “confusing” shifter, though Fiat Chrysler maintains that nothing was wrong with the cars, saying: “the vehicles involved in these events were inspected and no evidence of equipment failure was found.”
FCA’s recall will “combine [additional] warnings with a transmission-shift strategy to automatically prevent a vehicle from moving, under certain circumstances, even if the driver fails to select “PARK.”
It’s not clear why newer Chargers, 300s and Grand Cherokees are not included in the recall. Has Fiat Chrysler added additional warnings? I’m not sure. Though I can tell you that I have driven the vehicles affected by this recall, and I found the shifters to be fairly intuitive.
It’s also not clear exactly how Fiat Chrysler will alter the transmission shift strategy. Perhaps they’ll simply add some code that automatically puts the transmission in park when the driver’s door is open, and the vehicle speed is at or very near zero.
Either way, recalling vehicles is a costly process for automakers, though in this case, the bill will likely be footed by ZF.
UPDATE: ZF has sent a statement on the manner:
ZF supplies gearshift systems to automotive manufacturers according to their technical and design specifications. The manufacturer designs the integration of the gearshift system into the vehicle operating concept and develops the respective safeguard mechanisms. ZF delivered a fully functional state-of-the-art product, which was integrated into the vehicle architecture by the manufacturer. As such, ZF is unaware of any indications that claims could be made against ZF in the context of the current NHTSA investigations of the FCA vehicle models “2014-15 Grand Cherokee; 2012-14 Charger & 300 w/3.6 l engine”.
So it looks like ZF won’t be footing any bills.
Washington — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is upgrading and expanding its investigation into roughly 856,000 Grand Cherokees, Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s because the electronic gear shifter is so confusing that some drivers exit with the engine running and the vehicles still in gear.
NHTSA said it has upgraded its investigation into 2014-15 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2012-14 Charger and Chrysler 300s with 3.6-liter engines to an engineering analysis.
The safety agency has identified 306 incidents of Grand Cherokees rolling away after the drivers intended to shift the vehicle into park. That has result in 117 alleged crashes, 28 of which reportedly involved injuries — including three fractured pelvises.
In addition, NHTSA said it had received eight complaints about 2012-14 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger vehicles equipped with 3.6-liter engines that use the same shifter. Those complaints involved four crashes and two injuries.
Fiat Chrysler says it is cooperating fully with the investigation.
The vehicles use a ZF Group Monostable electronic gear shift assembly that springs back into a neutral position after drivers select a gear and release the shifter. NHTSA’s testing found that the electronic gear shifter is “not intuitive” and offers “poor tactile and visual feedback to the driver, increasing the potential for unintended gear selection.”
If a driver opens his or her door when the gearshift isn’t in park, a chime rings and a message pops up to alert them that the transmission is not in park.
The engine also will not turn off normally without the transmission in park. However, this function does not protect drivers who intentionally leave the engine running or those who do not realize that the engine is still running after they tried to turn it off, NHTSA says.
Fiat Chrysler changed the shifter design for the Charger and 300 in model-year 2015, and for the Grand Cherokee in model-year 2016.
Good grief people, there is nothing wrong with how JJ expressed his condolences.
Is he one of those disgustos that stirs the cream counterclockwise?Some would have a problem with how JJ prepares his coffee in the morning.
Ugh, sucks to know that this could have been preventable. I guess the good that can come from it that it might lead to more people returning their faulty carhttp://gizmodo.com/anton-yelchin-death-jeep-cherokees-were-recalled-for-c-1782255236
Anton Yelchin Death: Jeep Grand Cherokees Were Recalled for Rollaway Risk
http://gizmodo.com/anton-yelchin-death-jeep-cherokees-were-recalled-for-c-1782255236
Anton Yelchin Death: Jeep Grand Cherokees Were Recalled for Rollaway Risk
So these new jeeps have electronic gears? No manual hand break?
Alot of new cars have an electronic switch instead of a lever. But im not sure how this grand Cherokee works - I can't see it on the pic posted earlier
"I got out of the Jeep. I thought it was in park and it was in reverse still. And as I walked back towards the garage, I noticed it was moving a little bit and I didn't want to ruin the car after having it just for a few months so I got between the car and the garage and I was able to yell for my son and stop the car at the same time," Titus said.
Well shit...