NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Equipment Query EQ10-003: IMMI Seat Custion Locking Mechanisms
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Equipment Query EQ10-003 on April 1, 2010 and closed it on September 8, 2010. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Immi School Bus Seats for it and links 4 recalls to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- EQ10-003 (also written EQ10003)
- Investigation type
- Equipment Query An administrative investigation that reviews recall reports to confirm that the equipment suppliers and vehicle manufacturers involved in an equipment recall have filed the recall reports required of them.
- Status
- Closed September 8, 2010
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Indiana Mills and Manufacturing Inc.
- Component
- Seats
- Recalls linked by NHTSA
- Vehicles and equipment
- Immi School Bus Seats
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Equipment Query EQ10-003.
try.vin does not copy NHTSA's investigation documents; NHTSA's investigation record lists the ones NHTSA has published.
On February 1, 2010, Indiana Mills & Manufacturing, Inc. (IMMI) notified NHTSA that it sold certain school bus seats, manufactured between October 6, 2009 and January 25, 2010, and that these seats did not meet FMVSS No. 222, School bus passenger seating and crash protection, when installed in a school bus application. IMMI stated that certain seat cushion locking mechanisms are capable of being misaligned during vehicle assembly or after the vehicle is in use. A seat cushion with a misaligned locking mechanism might not be able to meet the requirements of FMVSS No. 222 as it would not allow the cushion to remain attached to the seat during a certain threshold of upward force. Should a school bus seat cushion become detached from the seat during vehicle operation, personal injury is possible to the seat occupant(s).
On April 2nd, 2010, RMD mailed IR letters requesting 573 Defect Report submissions to 13 of the 14 purchasers IMMI listed in its February 1st letter to the agency.
Daimler Trucks (Thomas Bus) had already filed a Defect Report for its buses in February (10V-058).
After a second IR letter was mailed to the other 13 purchasers on June 17, 2010, RMD received a response from all purchasers with the exception of Durham School Services.
As a school bus operator and not a vehicle manufacturer, they would not be required to notify the NHTSA and submit a Defect Report, but RMD did want to notify them of this safety issue.
Of the 12 respondents, 4 chose to file a subsequent Defect Report for school buses they built with these seats:Collins Bus Corp:10V-291 Starcraft Bus: 10V-194 Bus West: 10V-292 HA Dehart & Sons: 10V-142The remaining 8 responses did not require a Defect Report as the vehicles were repaired prior to sale, the seats were previously returned to IMMI, or they were not installed into buses as original equipment.
This EQ is closed.
EQ responses can be found in the Document Repository.
A working spreadsheet of responses can be found by clicking on the paper clip in this Adobe document.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Equipment Query EQ10-003. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Immi
Immi School Bus Seats
- model year not given
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for EQ10-003
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.