It took almost seven years, but an investigation into the use of active head restraints at Fiat Chrysler has been completed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The long-term federal investigation shows how vehicle owners can complain about alleged defects, but providing evidence to support the allegations can be a little more difficult.
An active headrest or headrest deploys quickly in the event of a rear-end collision to help prevent whiplash.
NHTSA opened its investigation in September 2019 after 128 complaints about FCA active head restraints accidentally deployed in 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango vehicles.
NHTSA had also received reports of 13 injuries involving headaches, soft tissue injuries, nausea, vomiting and disorientation.
Safety regulators eventually requested information about the sudden, crash-free headrest folding in these Chrysler vehicles.
Dodge Avenger 200 from 2010-2014
Dodge Caliber 2010-2014
Chrysler Sebring from 2010-2014
2013-2015 Aries Trader
2012 Ram Van
2010-2019 Dodge Grand Caravan
2010-2016 Chrysler City and Country
Jeep Compass from 2010-2017
2011-2020 Dodge Durango
2011-2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Dodge trip 2010-2019
2010-2012 Jeep Liberty
2010-2011 Jeep Nitro
2010-2011 Jeep Patriot
Customers complained that both active front head restraints could deploy, and Fiat Chrysler provided data to the NHTSA covering nine years for about 7.5 million vehicles.
The government decided to focus on 710,890 model year 2012-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees vehicles produced between August 19, 2011 and August 8, 2015. There were 2,839 alleged active head restraints deployed in those vehicles.
Hundreds of those customers claimed they were injured by the sudden deployment, but NHTSA could find no evidence confirming any injuries that required medical treatment. NHTSA contacted and interviewed 63 Chrysler owners who complained of injuries, but only one customer provided medical information.
But attorneys for that client indicated the client had previously suffered a neck injury in the mid-1990s.
Safety regulators also contacted another 100 customers who complained about alleged injuries, but NHTSA said these customers provided no evidence.
In addition, customers claimed that multiple crashes occurred as a result of the sudden deployment of the head restraint, but NHTSA found no evidence that a crash was caused by the activation of the active head restraint. And the government also found that all the crashes were minor.
The vehicles have been in use for 16 years, but out of more than 8,500 accidental deployments of the head restraints, NHTSA has found no evidence of serious crashes or injuries.
The government has closed its investigation into Chrysler’s head restraints because there are no indications of serious problems if the active head restraints are activated. In addition, FCA has released a warranty extension for the active headrests.
The results of the federal investigation are similar to lawsuits filed against Fiat Chrysler, two of which have gone to trial. In one lawsuit, the vehicle owner who filed the class action lawsuit admitted that he had never had any problems with the headrest and that he only filed a lawsuit when he was approached by a lawyer at a party.
The automaker was cleared by juries in two trials (here and here), with one judge finding that an active headrest activated with the “force of a confetti-filled eggshell.”
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