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2003 BLUE BIRD CONVENTIONAL — STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS

crash3 injured · 775982 · 2010-03-22

Vehicle

Make
BLUE BIRD
Model
CONVENTIONAL
Year
2003
Manufacturer
Blue Bird Body Company
Component
STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS
Miles at failure
73,650

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
3
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMPLAINT IS TO CALL ATTENTION TO A DESIGN DEFECT OF THE 2003 BLUE BIRD CONVENTIONAL/CV200 SCHOOL BUS THAT HAS RESULTED IN BOTH MAJOR INJURIES AND DEATH. THE DESIGN DEFECT IS THAT DURING REAR END COLLISIONS, PASSENGER COMPARTMENT INTRUSION IS MORE LIKELY DUE TO THE RELATIVELY HIGH BUMPER HEIGHT OF 24.5 INCHES. THIS MEANS THAT IF A VEHICLE COLLIDES WITH THE REAR OF THE BUS, SERIOUS INJURY IS LIKELY TO OCCUR WHEN THE INCOMING VEHICLE WEDGES UNDERNEATH THE BUS. IN GENERAL, SCHOOL BUSES MAKE FREQUENT STOPS ALONG THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC SO THE CONDITIONS FOR THIS DEFECT AS WELL AS POTENTIAL SERIOUS INJURY AND DEATH ARE ALARMINGLY FAVORABLE. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO CORRECT THIS 'FAILURE' IN DESIGN. *DT

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10321342
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown