State Rep, AG Call For Jeep Investigation

HARTFORD — Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and State Representative Patricia Widlitz, D-Guilford, recently called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate sudden acceleration problems with late-model Jeep Grand Cherokees.

Mr Blumenthal and Rep Widlitz called for the investigation after several reports of Jeep Grand Cherokees suddenly accelerating, reaching several thousand revolutions per minute (RPMs), out of car washes while transitioning from neutral to drive.

In one incident in Connecticut, a 52-year-old man was killed at a car wash when a Jeep Grand Cherokee accelerated suddenly and ran him over.

The two state officials said that NHTSA should require Daimler-Chrysler to provide all information concerning sudden or unexpected accelerations, and request information from car wash owners, auto repairers, and insurance companies.

“The rate and severity of these sudden acceleration incidents suggest a severe structural flaw — certainly more than simple coincidence,” Mr Blumenthal said. “These incidents — in one case killing a Connecticut man — call for aggressive and vigorous action to prevent another needless, preventable tragedy. No safety official can be neutral: a full-gear federal investigation is vital.”

Rep Widlitz said, “It is imperative that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration immediately launch an investigation into the Jeep Grand Cherokee sudden acceleration incidents. How many deaths and injuries must the public endure before this issue gets serious attention?”

Doug Newman, who owns a chain of Connecticut car washes, has witnessed incidents of sudden accelerations by Jeep Grand Cherokees and joined Mr Blumenthal and Rep Widlitz in their call for an NHTSA investigation.

Mr Newman, owner of Connecticut Car Care in Milford, said, “I have been operating multiple car wash locations for almost 20 years. Over that period of time and the few million or so cars washed, I have had only four sudden acceleration incidents and all four of these incidents involved Jeep Grand Cherokees. It is a statistical impossibility. I know many other car wash operators who can make the exact same claim.”

The latest incident that may have involved this alleged mechanical issue occurred in Danbury earlier this month, where fortunately no one was injured when a Jeep Cherokee reportedly lurched out of a downtown car wash and crashed into an adjacent building.