NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE12-024: Aux. Brake Failure - Adaptive Equipment
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE12-024 on August 17, 2012 and closed it on September 13, 2012. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Adaptive Equipment (model not given) for it and links recall 12E-034 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE12-024 (also written PE12024)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed September 13, 2012
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Automotive Innovations, Inc.
- Component
- Equipment Adaptive/Mobility
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 12E-034 (NHTSA record)
- Vehicles and equipment
- Adaptive Equipment (model not given)
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE12-024.
The subject electronic gas/brake system allows vehicle operation by a driver's hands instead of their feet and is equipped with a redundant (auxiliary) brake system so that a failure of the primary braking system does not result in a total loss of brakes.
The cited incident involved a situation where the driver was unaware that auxiliary system was malfunctioning and, when the primary system failed, she was unable to stop the vehicle.
The recall will remedy this issue by retrofitting system-equipped vehicles with a warning protocol to alert drivers that the auxiliary system is fully operational.
The recall (12E-034) was submitted after agency discussions with Automotive Innovations Inc. staff and before an Information Request letter was sent.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE12-024. 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.
Adaptive Equipment
Adaptive Equipment (model not given)
- 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 PE12-024
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.