- Vehicles
- 1,737
- Built between
- Not published
- Models
- 4
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 21 August 2019
- Repaired
- 62%
- Unrepaired
- 667
Does this affect my vehicle?
The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.
- 2018-2019 Blue Bird ALL American
- 2020 Blue Bird ALL American School BUS
- 2018-2019 Blue Bird Vision
- 2020 Blue Bird Vision School BUS
Repair progress
667 of 1,737 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2020.
62% repaired — 1,070 of 1,737 reported
Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.
What the defect is
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Vision and All American school buses equipped with Specialty Manufacturing Prolo roof emergency exit hatches. Due to a manufacturing issue, the roof hatch external handle may unexpectedly break under reasonable use. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 217, "Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release."
What could happen
If the roof hatch external handle breaks, in the event of an emergency, the hatch cannot be easily opened from outside the vehicle, increasing the risk of injury.
What gets fixed
Blue Bird will notify owners, and Specialty dealers will replace the outer handle, free of charge. The recall began August 21, 2019.
Timeline
- Recall reported to NHTSA12 July 2019
- Owners notified21 August 2019
- Latest repair reportQ4 2020 — 62% repaired
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 12 July 2019.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Manufacturer contact
Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R19AF - SB.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- R19AF - SB
- Recalling manufacturer
- Blue Bird Body Company
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 217
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.