Fiat Chrysler recalls 13000 Maserati cars for rollaway issue

Actor Anthon Yelchin’s death last week in a freak vehicle accident is prompting renewed calls for a vehicle flaw fix in the recalled 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Are you thinking of buying a Grand Cherokee? In fact, it was the most recalled vehicle model in 2014, with a ridiculous 11 safety-related recalls.

“The ZF Shifter design is dangerously defective because there is no tactile or position feedback to the operator as to whether the vehicle has actually been placed into the safe-to-exit “park” gear and there is no safety override that automatically puts the auto in “park” if the driver’s door is open and pressure taken off the foot brake”. “Many consumers may think: ‘If it could happen to Chekov, it could happen to me, ‘” he said, referring to the Star Trek character portrayed by Yelchin.

According to the technical document sent to dealers the software update requires the power control module, transmission control module, radio frequency hub, and instrument panel cluster to all be reprogrammed.

JEEP is recalling nearly 50,000 vehicles in Australia because they can roll away when the automatic transmission is left in the “park” position – a fault that has been linked to the death of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin in the U.S. this week.

The company said on the Jeep website it takes “all recall matters extremely seriously”. Fiat Chrysler said “advance planning is critical to efficient customer care and represents an acceleration – by several months – of the originally anticipated service launch”.

The recall modifications will combine warnings and a transmission-shift strategy to “automatically prevent a vehicle from moving, under certain circumstances, even if the driver fails to select “park”. Yelchin’s death is the first reported that’s linked to the confusing gear shifter.FCA is also claiming that the confusing shifters may have also caused 41 injuries.

The new software update arrives just after the death of actor Anton Yelchin who was pinned between the mailbox at the end of his driveway and his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was likely not put into “Park”.

The recalled vehicles include 2012 through 2014 Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s, as well as 2014 and 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says if the driver-side door is opened when the shifter is not in PARK, a chime and message warns the driver.