NHTSA Complaint #11418000 — 2015 HYUNDAI SONATA

While commuting to work on a rainy evening, the wiper blade appeared suddenly to become loose and quickly became fully detached due to the motion of my windshield wipers. It was flung from my car and could not be retrieved. The replacement wiper blades (driver and passenger side) were attached by a licensed mechanic, and they both seemed to function properly after installation until the failure occurred. The passenger side wiper blade remained connected. It had been replaced simultaneously along with the driver side blade; therefore they each sustained the same wear and relative minimal usage following their application before the critical incident. It was disturbing to have a piece of equipment necessary for the safe operation of a vehicle suddenly fail while the car was in motion, and during rainy weather conditions. There was no reason to suspect this would occur. I am hoping that reports such as this will help to put an appropriate degree of pressure on private companies to ensure they are selling products which are dependable rather than which compromise the integrity of valuable property and personal safety. The images I am including merely provide evidence of the product's purchase and support my claim of the failure. The photos of my windshield were taken upon reentering my vehicle after my overnight work shift. They show a faint line devoid of condensation, created by the bare metal windshield wiper having scraped against my windshield after the blade was disconnected.