The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Vision and All American school buses equipped with Ricon S-Series Titanium Wheelchair lifts. The wheelchair lift positioning input cam may fail while the lift is in use, allowing the platform to travel higher than the vehicle's floor height. As such, this vehicle fails to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 403, "Platform Lift Systems."
The risk
If the wheelchair lift platform raises above the height of the vehicle floor, the wheelchair user could fall inwards toward the vehicle, increasing their risk of injury.
The remedy
Blue Bird will notify owners, and Ricon dealers will replace the wheelchair lift positioning input cam, free of charge. The recall began March 4, 2019. Owners may contact Ricon customer service at 1-800-322-2884. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R19ZP-SB.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
Components: EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2015 | 3 | 27 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2016 | 1 | 20 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2017 | 0 | 10 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018 | 0 | 19 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2019 | 2 | 26 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2015 | 4 | 27 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2016 | 2 | 27 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2017 | 1 | 28 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018 | 0 | 35 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2019 | 0 | 41 |
Other equipment adaptive/mobility recalls in 2019
12 of the 880 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2019 concerned the equipment adaptive/mobility; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 19V271000 3 Apr 2019 | Mobility Specialists, Inc. |
| 19V198000 13 Mar 2019 | Transportation Collaborative, Inc. |
| 19V183000 6 Mar 2019 | Fenton Mobility Products, Inc. |
| 19V170000 5 Mar 2019 | Daimler Trucks North America LLC |
| 19V158000 1 Mar 2019 | Ameritrans Bus, Inc. |
| 19V160000 1 Mar 2019 | Supreme Corporation |
| 19V140000 27 Feb 2019 | Midway Specialty Vehicles |
| 19V125000 26 Feb 2019 | New England Wheels |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2019