NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Equipment Query EQ12-008: SMI Bus Roof Escape Hatches / FMVSS 217
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Equipment Query EQ12-008 on June 27, 2012 and closed it on September 28, 2012. NHTSA's investigations file lists the SMI Prolo for it and links 4 recalls to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- EQ12-008 (also written EQ12008)
- 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 28, 2012
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Specialty Manufacturing Co.
- Component
- Structure — Body — Roof and Pillars
- Recalls linked by NHTSA
- Vehicles and equipment
- SMI Prolo
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Equipment Query EQ12-008.
In a letter dated April 18, 2012, Specialty Manufacturing, Inc. (SMI) notified the NHTSA that certain ProLo bus roof escape hatches, installed as original equipment on various school buses and transit buses, may fail to conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
These hatches, shipped between April 1, 2011, and March 25, 2012, experience increased friction between the rear plate assemblies and the nylon rear pop-up support, resulting in an opening force that exceeds FMVSS No. 217, Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release.
In the event of an emergency, a noncompliant hatch may not provide a means of readily accessible egress, increasing the risk of injury to the vehicle occupants.
NHTSA assigned recall number 12E-017 to this matter.
On July 12, 2012, RMD mailed information request (IR) letters to five (5) manufacturers who had not yet conducted safety recalls for this issue.
Collins Bus responded that they did not incorporate these escape hatches into any new buses but instead sold them to dealerships.
Collins noted that they would notify the dealers of SMI's recall.
The other four (4) manufacturers filed Part 573 Reports and conducted safety recalls for their affected vehicles.
The following recalls were filed as a result of this EQ:Turtle Top:12V-330 Elkhart Coach:12V-348 Girardin Minibus, Inc:12V-362 Glaval Bus:12V-384As RMD received adequate responses from all the companies it contacted, this Equipment Query is closed.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Equipment Query EQ12-008. 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.
SMI
SMI Prolo
- 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 EQ12-008
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.