The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Vision and All American school buses equipped with Specialty Manufacturing Prolo roof emergency exit hatches. Due to a manufacturing issue, the roof hatch external handle may unexpectedly break under reasonable use. 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 roof hatch external handle breaks, in the event of an emergency, the hatch cannot be easily opened from outside the vehicle, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy
Blue Bird will notify owners, and Specialty dealers will replace the outer handle, free of charge. The recall began August 21, 2019. Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R19AF - SB.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2020 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018 | 0 | 19 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2019 | 2 | 26 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2020 | 4 | 20 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018 | 0 | 35 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2019 | 0 | 41 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020 | 0 | 29 |
Other structure recalls in 2019
58 of the 880 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2019 concerned the structure; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 19V873000 10 Dec 2019 | Jayco, Inc. |
| 19V870000 9 Dec 2019 | ARBOC Specialty Vehicles, LLC |
| 19V865000 5 Dec 2019 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 19V842000 22 Nov 2019 | Transportation Collaborative, Inc. |
| 19V840000 21 Nov 2019 | Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC |
| 19V836000 20 Nov 2019 | Temsa |
| 19V825000 18 Nov 2019 | Ducati North America |
| 19V824000 18 Nov 2019 | Forest River, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2019