NHTSA complaint: 2008 LEXUS RX350 — VISIBILITY:GLASS, SIDE/REAR
I AM WRITING TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION A VERY SERIOUS AND TROUBLING INCIDENT THAT RECENTLY OCCURRED WHILE I WAS DRIVING MY BRAND NEW LEXUS RX350. IT IS NO EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT MY PASSENGER AND I WERE EXTREMELY LUCKY TO NOT HAVE INCURRED SERIOUS INJURY, OR EVEN DEATH. WHILE DRIVING ON A VERY BUSY HIGHWAY, A DEFECT IN THE LEFT FRONT (DRIVER'S SIDE) GLASS CAUSED AN EXPLOSION THAT COULD HAVE LED TO VERY DIRE CONSEQUENCES. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED AT AROUND 10:30 AM ON JULY 27, 2007 WHILE WE WERE TRAVELING NORTHBOUND ON I-95 IN FLORIDA. WE WERE A SHORT DISTANCE NORTH OF EXIT 289 (WHERE WE ENTERED THE HIGHWAY) MOVING AT A NORMAL HIGHWAY RATE OF SPEED. WE WERE TRAVELING IN THE RIGHT LANE. SUDDENLY I HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE AN EXPLOSION! I LOOKED TO SEE WHERE THE NOISE WAS COMING FROM (MY LEFT) AND FOUND THE DRIVERS SIDE WINDOW EXPANDED OUTWARD. IT ALMOST APPEARED LIKE A BUBBLE THAT WAS BLOWING OUT FROM THE SIDE OF THE CAR. THE GLASS THEN SHATTERED IN A SPIDER WEB FASHION THE GLASS BEGAN TO BREAK, FALLING BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE CAR. ONCE STOPPED, I REALIZED THAT GLASS WAS COVERING ME FROM HEAD TO TOE. THERE WERE SEVERAL CUTS AND SCRAPES ON MY ARMS AND LEGS FROM THE SHATTERED GLASS. GLASS WAS IN MY HAIR, FELL DOWN MY NECK AND MANAGED TO MAKE ITS WAY INTO MY SHIRT. MY BROTHER, WHO WAS TRAVELING WITH ME, TRIED TO HELP ME BY REMOVING SOME OF THE GLASS, CUTTING HIS OWN FINGERS IN THE PROCESS. WHEREAS MY CAR HAD, PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT, BEEN IN NEW CONDITION, IT WA
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation