The defect
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Thomas Built Buses Minotour school buses with 36" or 39" wide seats. The rear emergency exit door may not open wide enough to meet the unobstructed emergency egress area requirements. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 217, "Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release."
The risk
If the emergency exit door does not open wide enough, it may limit the ability to exit the bus, increasing the risk of injury in the event of an emergency.
The remedy
DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will modify the rear door slide system, increasing the angle that the door can open, free of charge. DTNA issued owners an interim notification on November 8, 2018. The recall began June 28, 2019. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-797.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Thomas Built Buses Minotour | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
Components: STRUCTURE:EMERGENCY:ESCAPE/EGRESS/EXIT
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Built Buses Minotour | 2015 | 0 | 21 |
| Thomas Built Buses Minotour | 2016 | 0 | 20 |
| Thomas Built Buses Minotour | 2017 | 0 | 19 |
| Thomas Built Buses Minotour | 2018 | 1 | 13 |
| Thomas Built Buses Minotour | 2019 | 0 | 6 |
Other structure recalls in 2018
63 of the 912 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2018 concerned the structure; Daimler Trucks North America LLC filed 213 campaigns in all.
| 18V915000 19 Dec 2018 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 18V886000 12 Dec 2018 | Gillig LLC |
| 18V878000 10 Dec 2018 | Daimler Trucks North America LLC |
| 18V877000 10 Dec 2018 | Daimler Trucks North America LLC |
| 18V849000 29 Nov 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V848000 28 Nov 2018 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 18V825000 21 Nov 2018 | Great Dane Trailers |
| 18V808000 15 Nov 2018 | Wabash National Corporation |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2018