The defect
Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. (KME) is recalling certain 2017-2020 Commercial Pumper and Predator SS Rescue, 2018 Predator Panther Pumper and Commercial Skid, 2018-2020 Predator SS Aerial, 2020 Predator Panther Tanker, 2016 Predator Panther Aerial and Commercial Rescue, 2015-2019 Commercial Tanker, 2018-2019 Commercial Wildland, 2017 Predator SS Chassis and 2018-2021 Predator SS Pumper vehicles equipped with certain Code 3 7x9 Stop-Tail-Turn Reverse All-in-One LED stop, tail, turn, and reverse lights. The lights may be too bright, exceeding the maximum light output allowed which may adversely affect the vision of drivers. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
The risk
The excessive brightness may affect the vision of other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
KME will notify owners, and dealers will instruct vehicle owners to contact Code 3 to obtain a filter kit (Part No. CZ0199), free of charge. The recall began October 9, 2020. Owners may contact KME customer service at 1-800-235-3928.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| KME Commercial Pumper | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| KME Commercial Rescue | 2016 |
| KME Commercial Skid | 2018 |
| KME Commercial Tanker | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| KME Commercial Wildland | 2018, 2019 |
| KME Predator Panther Aerial | 2016 |
| KME Predator Panther Pumper | 2018 |
| KME Predator Panther Tanker | 2020 |
| KME Predator SS Aerial | 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| KME Predator SS Chassis | 2017 |
| KME Predator SS Pumper | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| KME Predator SS Rescue | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
Components: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| KME Commercial Pumper | 2017 | 0 | 4 |
| KME Commercial Pumper | 2018 | 0 | 4 |
| KME Commercial Pumper | 2019 | 0 | 3 |
| KME Commercial Pumper | 2020 | 0 | 1 |
| KME Commercial Rescue | 2016 | 0 | 1 |
| KME Commercial Skid | 2018 | 0 | 1 |
| KME Commercial Tanker | 2015 | 0 | 1 |
| KME Commercial Tanker | 2016 | 0 | 1 |
| KME Commercial Tanker | 2017 | 0 | 2 |
| KME Commercial Tanker | 2018 | 0 | 2 |
| KME Commercial Tanker | 2019 | 0 | 3 |
| KME Commercial Wildland | 2018 | 0 | 3 |
| KME Commercial Wildland | 2019 | 0 | 3 |
| KME Predator Panther Aerial | 2016 | 0 | 3 |
| KME Predator Panther Pumper | 2018 | 0 | 5 |
| KME Predator Panther Tanker | 2020 | 0 | 2 |
| KME Predator SS Aerial | 2018 | 0 | 5 |
| KME Predator SS Aerial | 2019 | 0 | 3 |
| KME Predator SS Aerial | 2020 | 0 | 1 |
| KME Predator SS Chassis | 2017 | 0 | 1 |
| KME Predator SS Pumper | 2018 | 0 | 7 |
| KME Predator SS Pumper | 2019 | 0 | 6 |
| KME Predator SS Pumper | 2020 | 0 | 4 |
| KME Predator SS Pumper | 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| KME Predator SS Rescue | 2017 | 0 | 4 |
| KME Predator SS Rescue | 2018 | 0 | 3 |
| KME Predator SS Rescue | 2019 | 0 | 2 |
| KME Predator SS Rescue | 2020 | 0 | 1 |
Other exterior lighting recalls in 2020
37 of the 782 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2020 concerned the exterior lighting; Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. filed 48 campaigns in all.
| 20V814000 28 Dec 2020 | Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA |
| 20V775000 11 Dec 2020 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
| 20V737000 25 Nov 2020 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 20V704000 13 Nov 2020 | Zero Motorcycles Inc. |
| 20V698000 12 Nov 2020 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 20V609000 30 Sept 2020 | Tesla, Inc. |
| 20V612000 30 Sept 2020 | Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. |
| 20V584000 24 Sept 2020 | Navistar, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2020