The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that General Motors will begin a voluntary recall of more than 36,000 Chevrolet Impala police cruisers in the United States on August 21. An additional 1,700 vehicles are also included in Canada. The reason for the recall is a defect in the vehicle manufacturing that allows for a fracture in the lower front control arms. The fracture, in turn, could lead to loss of control and serious accidents in vehicles being driven at high speeds.
While GM officials contend that no civilian Impala vehicles are included in this recall, they will begin contacting police departments that have purchased these Chevrolet Impalas – manufactured between 2008 and 2012 – to begin replacing each vehicle’s lower front arms at no cost to the police departments. Impalas that are currently driven by civilians are manufactured with different parts than the Impalas intended for police use.
As for how this will affect police performance, the recall will vary by departments. For instance, Florida Today, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has 126 Chevy Impala vehicles, with 25 of those affected by the recall. This will limit the department’s 600 officers to 101 vehicles.
Meanwhile, GM has also announced the voluntary recall of more than 10,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans due to defects in a fueling pipe. The recall includes 9,389 vans in northern, cold-weather U.S. states and an additional 926 vehicles in Canada, as salt commonly used to de-ice roads is causing corrosion in the fueling pipes. The NHTSA claims that the corrosion can lead to fire; however, no incidents have been reported as of yet. The vans in question are 2003 and 2004 models.