A Huge Investigation into 7 Million Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge Vehicles Has Ended Without a Recall Being Issued

Despite one of the largest investigations in its history, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has closed an investigation into active head rests without issuing a recall. The investigation covered 7.4 million vehicles built by Chrysler which is now owned by Stellantis. NHTSA had reports of 750 injuries but was unable to confirm that any of them were caused by the inadvertent deployments of active headrests. In many of the cases, the people had pre-existing conditions. The investigation involved some of the automaker's most popular vehicles including the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango and Chrysler 200. The vehicles were all built between 2010 and 2020. 

What Are Active Headrests

Active headrests are designed to move up and protect a person’s head in the case of a rear end collision. The headrest is supposed to protect passengers from whiplash. 

According to a company called Knauf Industries, which is an automotive supplier, “Active headrests counteract injury to the cervical spine with built-in protective mechanisms. These systems are known as WHIPS (Whiplash Protection System) or AWS (Anti-Whiplash System). For a long time they were used only in the seats of higher-end cars, but due to their high effectiveness they can be found more and more often in middle-priced vehicles as well. These solutions are recommended by road safety and crash test organizations such as EuroNCAP, NHTSA and IIHS.”

According to Reuters,

NHTSA said it had reports of 750 injuries but could not confirm any serious injuries where the patient did not have pre-existing conditions. NHTSA had been investigating the issue since 2019. The safety organization spent years investigating the claims. Its Human Injury Research Division performed countless computer simulations of deployment scenarios to try and duplicate possible skull fractures or brain injuries. 

According to Reuters, “The agency reviewed up to 16 years of data and over 8,500 inadvertent deployments ⁠and no serious ‌crashes or injuries could be ⁠validated.”

The vehicles under investigation included:

• 2011-2014 Chrysler 200
• 2010-2016 Town and Country
• 2011-2020 Dodge Durango
• 2010- 2020 Dodge Grand Caravan
• 2010-2019 Dodge Journey
• 2010-2017 Jeep Compass
• 2011-2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee
• 2010-2017 Jeep Patriot

Stellantis isn’t commenting but told NHTSA that it will offer a 10-year extended warranty for the 2010 through 2020 model year vehicles. 

Jeep Photo

Mary Conway is a professional automotive journalist and has decades of experience specializing in automotive news analysis. She covered the Detroit Three for more than twenty years for the ABC affiliate, in Detroit. Her affection for the Motor City comes naturally. Her father ran a gas station while Mary was growing up, in Wisconsin.

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