When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Jeep Grand Cherokee's electronic shifter causes death of actor Anton Yelchin
Theres a thread about his death in the Clubhouse, but I wanted to post this here because I know many members at CL also have Jeep Grand Cherokees, I had one of these with this shifter, and as you all know I have a lot of positive things to say about the Grand Cherokee:
This shifter was overwhelmingly my most serious issue with the Jeep. I would very commonly put it in neutral trying to put it in park, and in fact as soon as I heard about this accident I immediately thought about the Jeep before it was even reported that it was in fact a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Theres a recall and a number of class action suits, over 200 accidents and 40+ injuries but this looks to be the first death. For 2016 the shifter has been replaced with a normal shifter, and for 2011-2013 the JGC also had a normal shifter.
Very sad, be VERY careful if you have one of these that its in park.
A couple of years ago, coming out of a local car wash in my neighborhood, a JGC accelerated across a median- divided 4-lane highway, over several concrete curbs, and took out a gas pump at the Shell station across the street. It's very fortunate that it didn't cause multiple accidents, a serious fire, or explosion. It's unclear if it was a shifter/vehicle problem or simple carelessness on the wash-employee's part.
I remember those stories locally, there were a few, and in fact my carwash (where one of these happened) always put the hazard flashers on our Jeep when it went through, never did that on any other car. I think that was operator error, those stories always surrounded a carwash and that's really all that makes sense.
Fiat Chrysler to investigate crash that killed Star Trek's Anton Yelchin
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said on Monday it would investigate a crash that killed Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin when he was struck by his recalled 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Yelchin was killed when the SUV rolled away and pinned him against a fence in Los Angeles, police said on Sunday.
Fiat Chrysler in April recalled more than 1.1 million cars and SUVs worldwide because vehicles may roll away after drivers exit, an issue linked to 41 injuries.
The company had told owners it hoped to come up with a "permanent" remedy by the fourth quarter.
Fiat Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne said the company would conduct a "thorough investigation" of the incident.
"It is premature to speculate on its cause at this time," he added.
I was wondering how long before somebody was killed by that STUPID shifter design. I thought it would be some little kid getting run over because mom thought she had the car in park.
Certain(not all) Chrysler 300's, Dodge Chargers, Dodge Challengers, and some Audis(the A8 I think) use that same god awful shifter design, all of them have that same ZF 8 speed gearbox.
RIP Anton Yelchin. Guy was a phenomal talent, too bad the 27 curse got him.
A couple of years ago, coming out of a local car wash in my neighborhood, a JGC accelerated across a median- divided 4-lane highway, over several concrete curbs, and took out a gas pump at the Shell station across the street. It's very fortunate that it didn't cause multiple accidents, a serious fire, or explosion. It's unclear if it was a shifter/vehicle problem or simple carelessness on the wash-employee's part.
Apparently this model was under recall or something like it.
Anyways, not a fan of Jeep, stay away is what I say to friends and family 😂
He was a great actor in Star Trek movies, but if he had used handbrake he would still be alive.
That Jeep doesn't have a handbrake. Has a foot operated parking brake.
That's a valid point though. I ALWAYS set the parking brake if I'm putting the car in park. It's just automatic for me. Even now that I'm used to automatic parking brakes I still use the footbrake in the van.
Those shifters don't have mechanical linkages or positions that pertains to gears? I'm not familiar with Chrysler's transmissions, but it doesn't look like it has enough physical space to have different positions per gear. In other words, it requires a physically different position between neutral and drive in most cars, whereas it doesn't seem to be the case for this transmission.
How does it work? Press the button then move the lever until it reaches the desired gear, releasing it just shoves it back to the physical center position?
Until the police and other investigating agencies know and determine for sure what happened it's hard to say what happened.
But the JGC, as impressive as it is - had issues because there didn't seem to be any sort of "fail safe" system built into the car's electronic shifter. Some scary consumer stories from a year ago about FCA vehicles and the electronic gear shift control.
From the Consumerist website.
The crux of the problem is found in the design of the more intuitive electronic gear shifter.
Unlike a traditional shifter, the electronic version is simply moved forward and backward to select gear. Once the gear has been selected, the shifter returns to the centered position...
The constant back and forth of the shifter could lead drivers to believe they have successfully moved the selector into the proper “park” gear when it actually remains in “neutral,” “drive,” or “reverse.”
Confusion over the shifter is described by vehicle owners, who strongly believed they had put the car in the “park” position, in complaints submitted to NHTSA’s complaint database:
“The vehicle was put in park while running,” one complaint reads. “The vehicle then started to roll backwards while still in park and then collided into another parked vehicle… three occupants proceeded to evacuate the vehicle before it collided with the parked car. The two children and adult passenger evacuated the vehicles as they thought it might roll into street traffic and be struck. A child was injured exiting the vehicle as the vehicle collided with another parked vehicle and then continued on rolling into a ditch.”
“While in ‘park’ and idling, the vehicle rolled forward and struck objects 20 yards away causing $1,500 worth of damage to the right front bumper,” one complaint states. “My wife parked the car and had exited the vehicle, when after about 30 seconds it rolled forward and struck headstones in a cemetery. The car still indicated it was in ‘park’ when my son reentered the vehicle.”
In another complaint, the owner of a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee says the vehicles rolled from the “park” position without warning. When the woman attempted to stop the car, it ran over her hip, causing injuries that required medical attention.
“The vehicle was stationary, in park with the engine idling,” the complaint from a Grand Cherokee owner in Massachusetts states. “Standing outside of the vehicle, I opened the door to reach in to turn the ignition off. As soon as I hit ignition, the car accelerated forward dragging me about 10 yards. I was not in the vehicle and help on to the steering wheel and open door to keep from getting run over. It collided with vehicle parked in front of me, luckily I was in an empty parking lot and no one was injured.”
The owner of another 2015 Grand Cherokee from Georgia shared a similar story.
“The vehicle was in park, and I exited the car,” the complaint states. “My wife was sitting in the passenger seat and the car was not moving. When my wife exited to retrieve an item from the house. She returned to find the vehicle down the hill and in the woods.”
“The Jeep’s electronic Transmission did not fully shift into the ‘park’ position while still running,” the owner of a 2015 Grand Cherokee in Kentucky tells NHTSA. “My wife exited the vehicle to take our three-year-old from the back seat and the Jeep began to roll away. She ran and jumped into the driver’s seat to stop it and in the process her foot slipped from the brake to the gas pedal driving the car into/through a house.”
“While the electronic shifter was in park, the vehicle independently moved backwards and struck another vehicle,” the complaint states. “There were no injuries and a police report was filed The vehicle was taken to the mechanic who stated that the rear passenger side bumper was damaged and needed to be repaired.”
“When the gear shift was placed in park, the gear failed to engage and the vehicle rolled more than once,” the owner of a 2014 Grand Cherokee in North Carolina tells NHTSA. “The contact had to quickly get back into the vehicle, ensure the gear was completely in park, and apply the emergency brake.”
Those shifters don't have mechanical linkages or positions that pertains to gears? I'm not familiar with Chrysler's transmissions, but it doesn't look like it has enough physical space to have different positions per gear. In other words, it requires a physically different position between neutral and drive in most cars, whereas it doesn't seem to be the case for this transmission.
How does it work? Press the button then move the lever until it reaches the desired gear, releasing it just shoves it back to the physical center position?
Exactly. Think of it like a joystick that once you've selected the gear it pops back to center. The Audi A8 oddly enough has a very similar shifter.
An even easier thing to do or should have done is build an interlock with the door. If stopped and the door opens, it should auto shift into park. If over X MPH, it won't (self-preservation). But at least there's a fails-safe safety measure.
BMW's Park button is better than not having one. At least there's an actual, purposeful action that has to be done that is different from the the non-linked lever changes. The user would quickly learn that if they don't press that button, no park, versus moving the lever not long enough (while distracted for example) and it just shifting to neutral.
But frankly, while I'm all for more technology, intuitiveness and real user testing (i.e., being lazy, in a rush or distracted) are important facets when changing something we're all so accustomed to.
Or they could just use an ordinary shifter which is what they chose to do going forward. I don't understand the fascination behind these weird shift levers.
06-20-16, 08:26 AM
Jeep Grand Cherokee's electronic shifter causes death of actor Anton Yelchin
