The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Have a Safety Problem?

Have you experienced a vehicle, recreational vehicle/trailer, tire, car seat, or equipment safety issue that could be a safety defect? If so, you can file a complaint that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will carefully review.

This site is set up for recreational vehicles and towable trailers.

If you own an RV (motorized or towable) and are experiencing safety-related issues like:

— Fire hazard potentials (electrical in nature)
— Brake system failures
— Frame failure-related issues
— CO2 poisoning (alarms not going off)
— Suspension breakage while traveling
— Doors/cargo doors opening during transport
— Slideouts extending out during transport
— Broken axles

More safety-related concerns will be updated as more are acknowledged.

These safety issues need to be reported so that you and others can get the attention of NHTSA and the RV assembly/manufacturing companies. This will help expedite your direct concerns once NHTSA is aware of them and makes direct contact with these companies.


IMPORTANT NOTICE:
NHTSA states in writing that the RV industry is permitted to “self-certify and self-regulate” which means there are no federal safety regulations at all for the RV industry.

NHTSA Investigators:

Jonathan Harrison
Safety Defect Specialist
jonathan.harrison@dot.gov

Robert Nguyen
Safety Defect Specialist
Robert.Nguyen@dot.gov

NOTE:
1. Check your Spam folders for emails from NHTSA. Extremely important, please!

2. After going through these questions, some questions will be unique to your complaint so that they could vary.

3. If your RV company mobile tech or a dealership failed to perform all steps in your technical service bulletin, let NHTSA know why the tech failed to remove the phylon under the pin box and riser wall to do a thorough inspection of possible cracked/broken welds in the frame.

4. If you have an after-market pin box like the Gen-Y, make sure you let them know about the improvement in the ride since this upgrade and mention the Magnuson-Moss Act to them as the resource that protects you from warranty denial by RV assembly/manufacturing companies.



These may be questions that are asked of you by the NHTSA investigators. This is when you get the opportunity to explain everything that relates to your RV issues. Try to list outreach chronologically, and make sure it pertains to the RV only without getting into a long, drawn-out story. Try your best to keep emotion out of it and stick to the facts. This is when you have the opportunity to attach pictures and videos to this email request.
- Are you the original owner of this trailer?

- Has this trailer ever been in an accident or had its frame repaired/altered?

- What do you usually carry in this trailer?

- Has this trailer ever had water damage?

- Is the pin box currently on the trailer original from Grand Design? If not, what brand, model, and size is it? Who installed it?

- Have you been in contact with Grand Design in this matter

- How many times have your doors come open?

- Is there any other damage you’ve noticed in your trailer?

- Do you give this office permission to share your Vehicle Identification Number/VIN and Personal Identifying Information/PII with the manufacturer?
Yes, I 100% approve this.


Other Possible Questions:

- Is there damage to the frame at the pin box area? If so, can you share photos of that damage with this office? If so, please limit them to your Top 5 pictures for now.

- Have any doors opened in transit, such as cargo doors, entry/exit doors, or propane doors? If those doors opened, how many times did these doors open, and were any items lost to the roadway?

- Regarding the doors that have opened, do you have photos of them to share? We want to learn where they are on the trailer (driver’s side/passenger side? Towards the front, toward the rear?) and how the door itself operates (is the hinge to the front of the trailer, to the rear? Do the doors which might have opened lift because they are hinged at the top?). Please limit your photos to two for each door that has opened.

- If your trailer has had slideout troubles you feel are attributable to your frame concerns, please describe those slideout problems.

- If your trailer has had slideout troubles you feel are attributable to your frame concerns. Please tell us where the affected slideout is installed on your trailer.


Copy and paste these questions into a new email to Jonathan Harrison and Robert Nguyen if you never got these questions from NHTSA. Also, add plenty of pictures and videos to the email. Don't change these questions at all because they come from NHTSA, but feel free to add additional information to your responses. Please read through it thoroughly before sending it.