The defect
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2011-2021 Thomas Built Saf-T Liner HDX school buses. The forward seat barriers may not provide sufficient protection to passengers. 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
Occupants may collide with the front seat barriers with more force than intended during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will install a spacer between the seat rail and the seat barrier, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 25, 2023. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL843. This recall replaces NHTSA recall 19V899.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2011 | 0 | 23 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2012 | 0 | 19 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2013 | 0 | 23 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2014 | 0 | 30 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2015 | 0 | 31 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2016 | 0 | 29 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2017 | 0 | 32 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2018 | 0 | 26 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2019 | 1 | 21 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2020 | 0 | 18 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2021 | 0 | 16 |
Other seats recalls in 2022
28 of the 933 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2022 concerned the seats; Daimler Trucks North America, LLC filed 166 campaigns in all.
| 22V942000 19 Dec 2022 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 22V857000 18 Nov 2022 | Shyft Group |
| 22V840000 14 Nov 2022 | Daimler Trucks North America, LLC |
| 22V803000 25 Oct 2022 | Porsche Cars North America, Inc. |
| 22V732000 30 Sept 2022 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
| 22V724000 29 Sept 2022 | General Motors, LLC |
| 22V670000 7 Sept 2022 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 22V653000 29 Aug 2022 | Roadtrek Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2022