A friend (and his family) where I work (multi brand new car dealer) lost their 2 year old daughter/niece when their vehicle was rear ended at about 65 mph, when traffic had stopped on the freeway. Obviously the other driver was distracted, not paying attention, who knows what else. I have been rear ended 3 times in the past 10 years, luckily w/ no injury, just property damage by the uninsured driver(s)! (No, not in Mrs's Roadster) I see many wrecked cars every week in our body shop & those that we do business with and it seems as if the majority are because one or more drivers failed to stop in time. I drive in heavy traffic for much of my workday and often see one or sometimes zero brake lights working on some vehicles (there are no safety inspections here, only biannual smog tests). Faulty brake lights must often contribute to rear end crashes.
Electrical malfunction and other damage caused by water leaking past the roof/window (ie. rain, snowmelt, carwash etc) was the main reason for my petition for an investigation. Yet, NHTSA and Chrysler (of course), have NEVER even publicly acknowledged this obvious risk.


An automobile roof provides the critical function of protecting the occupants AND many vital/sensitive components from injury or damage & malfunction caused by exposure to the elements, for it's expected service life (10 years quoted by Chrysler). The rear window and it's weathertight seal, is an integral part of the roof structure, especially on a convertible vehicle. Apparently they consider the entire roof as simply some type of cosmetic part, providing NO necessary purpose and no investigation is necessary!? This is JUST wrong.


You are right: this saga is ridiculous and a sham perpetrated on all, by the Corp. AND "our" Government, (NHTSA). Maybe I should copy this to Secretary Anthony Foxx (DOT) and our Senators because they would be compelled to respond for the "record".