Houston bus accident lawyers mention a recent recall announced by the U.S. NHTSA. Therecall affects some buses from the 2012 model year that were manufactured by Blue Bird, one of the major manufacturers of school buses. You might remember the blue bird logo on school buses from your school years.
The recalled buses were manufactured from May 20, 2011 through October 20, 2011. All the recalled buses were from Blue Bird’s “All American” and “Vision” lines. These recalled buses were equipped with SMI (Specialty Manufacturing Inc.) Prolo roof hatches intended for use as escape hatches in the event of emergency. But increased friction between the rear plate assemblies (numbered P/No. 009327) and the nylon rear pop-up supports (numbered P/No. 008956) could result in an opening force on these roof hatches that exceeds federal safety requirements.
In other words, applying the force necessary to open the resisting hatch could result in a strong force upon hatch opening that could injure you. And, in the event of an emergency, our Houston bus injury lawyers caution that the extra friction, potentially causing injury to the bus occupants, could also hinder exit from the bus by the emergency hatchway.
The defective hatchway does not conform to the federal motor vehicle standard (No. 217) governing bus emergency exits and window retention and release. If you have one of the recalled buses, your defective emergency exit hatchway could cause its own emergencies. Blue Bird has said that it will notify owners of the defective vehicles. And SMI will provide service kits along with repair instructions to dealers and owners free of charge.
If your vehicle is subject to the recall, take advantage of the free repair. A bus with a useless or dangerous escape hatch could present dangers of injury or even fatality in the event of a serious bus emergency. If you’ve been injured in a bus accident or because of a defective vehicle part, please contact us at your convenience for a free legal consultation to discuss your accident and evaluate your options for making a full financial recovery for your needless injuries.
For more than 12 years, our dedicated Houston bus accident lawyers have been helping the injured victims of serious accidents of all types to successfully obtain the monetary compensation they’re due from those whose carelessness caused their injuries. Call us toll free at 877-307-9500 or use our convenient online contact features to schedule your free consultation.