The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2008-2021 Vision and All American school buses. The seat barrier behind the driver seat with an integrated 3-point seat belt may have been installed incorrectly and may be missing the reinforcing bracket. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 222, "School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection."
The risk
In the event of a crash, the seat barrier may not adequately protect the occupant seated behind the seat barrier separating them from the driver seat with integrated 3-point seat belt, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy
Blue Bird will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and properly install the seat barrier including adding reinforcing bracket, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin April 23, 2020. Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R20AM-SB.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2020, 2021 |
| Blue Bird ALL American Transit Bus | 2020, 2021 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020, 2021 |
| Blue Bird Vision Transit Bus | 2020, 2021 |
Components: SEATS:BARRIERS
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 | 2008 | 4 | 32 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2009 | 3 | 33 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2010 | 0 | 42 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2011 | 0 | 35 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2012 | 0 | 30 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2013 | 1 | 28 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2014 | 0 | 26 |
| 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 ALL American School Bus | 2020 | 4 | 20 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2021 | 0 | 18 |
| Blue Bird ALL American Transit Bus | 2020 | 0 | 5 |
| Blue Bird ALL American Transit Bus | 2021 | 0 | 9 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2008 | 1 | 30 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2009 | 6 | 28 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2010 | 2 | 25 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2011 | 0 | 22 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2012 | 1 | 19 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2013 | 2 | 25 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2014 | 0 | 22 |
| 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 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020 | 0 | 29 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2021 | 1 | 26 |
Other seats recalls in 2020
20 of the 782 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2020 concerned the seats; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 20V794000 17 Dec 2020 | Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC |
| 20V735000 25 Nov 2020 | General Motors LLC |
| 20V673000 30 Oct 2020 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 20V644000 19 Oct 2020 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 20V633000 14 Oct 2020 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 20V558000 14 Sept 2020 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 20V537000 3 Sept 2020 | General Motors LLC |
| 20V505000 26 Aug 2020 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2020