NHTSA Complaint #747406 — 1999 GMC SAFARI

ACCIDENT OCCURRED DUE TO ABS FAILURE. ACCIDENT OCCURRED APPROX. 10 MILES FROM MY RESIDENCE IN A SCHOOL ZONE. I WAS TRAVELING AT APPROX. 30 MPH (35 MPH POSTED), FOLLOWING OTHER AUTOS AND WHEN AUTOS IN FRONT OF ME SLOWED, I PRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND IT WENT TO THE FLOOR WITH NO POSITIVE RESULTS. THERE WAS NO WARNING THAT THE BRAKES WERE GOING TO PERFORM IMPROPERLY AND I WAS NOT ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A SUDDEN STOP. DUE TO THE BRAKE FAILURE, I IMPACTED THE REAR-END OF ANOTHER VEHICLE, WHICH SUBSEQUENTLY HIT THE AUTO IN FRONT OF IT. HAD VAN REPAIRED THROUGH A SHOP THAT WAS OF PREFERRED STATUS WITH INSURANCE COMPANY. UPON PICKUP OF VAN, WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT AN ABS FAILURE CAUSED WRECK. NOTIFIED GMC CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AS PER THEIR REP., CASED CLOSED DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY DID NOT INSPECT DAMAGED VAN--NOR DID THEY WANT TO OFFER INSPECTION/COMPUTER ANALYIS OF VEHICLE NOW. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A FATAL ACCIDENT--CHILDREN AS PASSENGERS IN THIS VEHICLE AND OTHERS. GMC SHOULD TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY--THEIR ABS TRACK RECORD SPEAKS VOLUMES AND THE OWNER'S MANUAL SAYS *NOTHING* ABOUT HAVING THE VEHICLE INSPECTED BY THEIR REPS BEFORE HAVING VEHICLE REPAIRED.*AK