The Jeep Grand Cherokee Gear Shift – too complicated for stupid drivers
Fiat Chrysler are recalling 1.1 million cars worldwide to add extra warnings for the gearbox so drivers use park. Most of the cars are in the US.
Car recalls have become so frequent in recent years that you do begin to wonder where car makers’ liability ends and common sense takes over.
Now, Fiat Chrysler is having to recall 1.1 million cars worldwide – although the majority are in the US – to make sure stupid drivers know how to put their automatic cars in Park.
The cars affected are certain model year 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs and 2012-2014 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Chargers fitted with the automatic gear shift on the centre console that ‘rocks’ when you change gear, rather then physically moving.
It seems that some drivers are so stupid they can’t work out whether the car is in Park or not because it’s only indicated by a light rather than the gear lever position, and they’ve been walking away from their cars only to find them moving off.
There have been 41 injuries related to the problem, so Fiat Chrysler is recalling the cars to add more warnings and a safety system that prevents the car from moving if the door is open, even if it’s not in park.
There was a time when personal responsibility would come in to play and it would be the drivers’ fault that they’d been daft enough to get out without putting the car in Park (or putting on the parking brake). But now it’s always someone else’s fault.
Who’d be a car maker?
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