NHTSA Complaint #10748028 — 2014 NISSAN LEAF

CHILD LOCKS ISSUE: MY FAMILY AND I WERE GOING TO A RESTAURANT, AND, UPON ARRIVAL, MY MOTHER WAS UNABLE TO EXIT. I REALIZED THAT THE CHILD LOCK DEVICE LEVER IN OUR 2014 NISSAN LEAF WAS OUT OF THE CHILD-UNLOCKED, OR NORMAL-EGRESS, POSITION. I ALSO REALIZED THAT THIS WAS A SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN. I INVESTIGATED THE DOOR CHILD-LOCK MANUAL LEVER ON THE LEAF AND INVENTED A DEVICE TO KEEP THE LEVER POSITION IN THE CHILD-UNLOCKED CONDITION UNTIL WE DESIRED TO REPOSITION IT (WHEN TRAVELING WITH SMALL CHILDREN). I ALSO INVENTED THE ALTERNATE DEVICE, THAT IS, TO MAINTAIN THE CHILD-LOCKED POSITION. THIS DEVICE WAS DESIGNED TO RESTRAIN THE LEVER AND INDICATE THE CHILD-LOCK CONDITION AT A GLANCE; THIS IS WHY THE LEVER KNOB IS VISIBLE WHEN THE OBJECT IS INSTALLED AND COLORS WERE USED TO AFFIRM THE STATUS. FOR OUR NISSAN LEAF, I USED A GREEN RUBBER INSERT FOR THE CHILD-UNLOCKED POSITION, AND A RED RUBBER INSERT FOR THE CHILD-LOCKED POSITION. THIS INVENTION, ALONG WITH SEVERAL VARIATIONS TO ACCOMMODATE DIFFERENT ACTUATORS AND INDICATION PARADIGMS FOR INDICATING STATUS, WAS RECENTLY SUBMITTED TO THE US PATENT OFFICE, AND IS THUS ?US PATENT PENDING.? I CONTACTED BOTH NISSAN AND TOYOTA AND THEY REPLIED WITH NO INTEREST. PLEASE CONTACT ME AND I WILL SHARE DETAILS, INCLUDING DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF MY FIXES. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR