Superior Structure: Body

Superior is recalling about 20,000 vehicles over a problem with the structure. When a passenger's clothing becomes caught in the handrail, and the bus driver closes the door and puts the vehicle in motion, the individual is subject to being dragged by the bus.

Campaign
96V079000
Manufacturer
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES AUTO.
Reported
6 May 1996
Vehicles
20,000
Built between
Not published
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
29 May 1997
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

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.

  • 1981 Superior School BUS

What the defect is

Passenger's clothing can unknowingly become caught in the handrails at bus doors when exiting the bus.

What could happen

When a passenger's clothing becomes caught in the handrail, and the bus driver closes the door and puts the vehicle in motion, the individual is subject to being dragged by the bus. This can result in serious injury or death.

What gets fixed

REPLACE OR REPOSITION THE HANDRAILS TO STOP CLOTHING FROM BEING CAUGHT.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA6 May 1996
  2. Owners notified29 May 1997

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 6 May 1996.

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.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES AUTO.
Recall initiated by
ODI

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

System: equipment; handrails at bus entryways. Vehicle description: sheller globe/superior school buses built before 1981. Note: because of the age of the school buses, united technologies automotive systems (who acquired sheller globe in 1989) is only required by statute to provide notification of a defect and not a free remedy.

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.

Same component

Same brand