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Jun 13, 2006 4:41 pm US/Eastern
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Conn. A.G. Launches Crusade Against Jeep
Wants Government To Investigate Grand Cherokees
by Tony Aiello
MILFORD (CBS) ―
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is asking federal officials to investigate the alleged tendency of Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs to suddenly accelerate.
"There must be an investigation, the evidence is too compelling," Blumenthal said.
Car wash owner Doug Newman brought the alleged problem to his attention, Blumenthal said.
"We've had four incidents of sudden acceleration, and all four occurred with the Jeep Grand Cherokee," Newman said.
A surveillance camera at his Shelton car wash captured one such incident. The video shows a Grand Cherokee moving quickly as it exits the car wash, leaving black smoke and startled attendants in its wake.
Newman said the problem typically happens when the SUV is restarted as it exits the car wash tunnel, and then shifted from neutral to drive.
"It accelerates, goes to maybe 3,000 RPMs, goes to wide open throttle, and takes off," said Newman.
In February, a North Haven man was struck and killed by a Jeep Grand Cherokee at the Splash Car Wash in Hamden. Police blamed the accident on an inexperienced car wash attendant who did not have a driver's license. An expert examined the 2005 Grand Cherokee and found "no mechanical malfunctions."
Daimler-Chrysler, which manufacturers Jeep vehicles, said Blumenthal's request for a federal investigation showed he was "uninformed" about the issue.
"Comprehensive studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) plus dozens of governmental and independent analyses all reached the same conclusion: these incidents are caused by driver error, specifically drivers who believe they are applying the brakes when they are actually pressing the accelerator," said Max Gates, a company spokesman.
Newman and Blumenthal said if driver error was indeed to blame, the problem of sudden acceleration should affect all makes and models equally. Newman said he's never seen it happen with any vehicle except a Grand Cherokee.
NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson said the agency would look carefully at Blumenthal's request, but noted no investigation was currently underway.
Noel Langerman of Orange, Conn., said his family owns three Grand Cherokees, and "I haven't had any problems, and I've been driving Jeeps for a long time."
But Newman is convinced the problem is real.
"I tell my car wash attendants to take extra care when a Grand Cherokee is coming through the tunnel," he said.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)