Stability Control Failure Caused Accident

TopDog · **Joined:** Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:50 pm **Posts:** 5

DarbyWalters wrote:

I think the answer you are looking for is "we have not run across complete ABS, ESP, ROM, BA, TC failure". What I mean to say is I have never heard of this yet. The lights come on when something causes them (ESP, ect.) to engage. Like Jason said, they could all be working correctly, but if you are already hydroplaning they will have no effect. I hope your wife is OK! I don't know if the dealership can tell if a malfunction occurred thru downloading anything.

The lights had come on while she was driving at or under the speed limit on a straight road. In about a mile after the lights came on is when my wife was on the entrance ramp towards home. The lights were a steady light (and still are!), not blinking or flashing. THey had done this one other time, in the dry on the interstate) and then reset. They picked a heck of a time to come back on and announce failure!

I'm not saying that Jeep is 100% responsible for accident, but the failure was real and NOT due to already slipping. On the other hand, I rode over 200 miles in the same heavy rain on my motorcycle that has no ABS or anything either....

Darby, thanks for the concern about the wife. Mentally shaken (not stirred), but fine physically.

TopDog · **Joined:** Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:50 pm **Posts:** 5

robert46123 wrote:

Is the ESP broke now? (Assuming the Liberty is drivable) How do you know it malfunctioned in the first place? When ESP senses slip it flashes to let you know it's been activated. Could it be that's what you wife saw. Honestly, if your wife was going into a fishtail I'm amazed she even noticed the lights. No matter how good ESP is (and it's awesome as my wife raves about it), it's still possible to slide off the road in slippery conditions. Where you with her when it happened? I'm not calling your wife a liar, but she could have been confused.

I really don't know what you expect from us. If you think there's a problem with wife's Liberty and it's ESP I'd contact the dealer about it after the body shop gets done with it.

Yes, the lights still stay on and the code should still be active. Jeep is not driveable only because of the inner fender hanging around tire. Jeep needs new wheel, fender, flare, bumper cover, and some other minor stuff. I know my wife is correct as the lights had come on once before when it was dry and we were tooling along on a highway. That, and the code is still active.

TopDog · **Joined:** Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:50 pm **Posts:** 5

Wrong. If the lights are flashing, the system works. If it comes on steady, the system has failed.

Northbee wrote:

If the lights came on - the system worked! Traction control lights mean that the system is actually working.

So there seems to be no error there!

But traction control can't overcome the laws of physics!

Thank god your wife is ok - but I think she was too fast for the kind of curve, the road condition and the tires mounted .... the mixture of all these factors caused the crash.

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:53 pm

Wow. Sounds like the comp that controls everything failed. You should be asking for a completely new Jeep. I think I would. I'm glad to hear that nobody was injured by this (could have been a lot more than your wife, even... scary to think about, really) anyway, go for everything you can get. Don't clear those codes! If you turn the key on and off three times, leaving it on the last time, it will give you the diagnostic error code (http://www.allpar.com/fix/computer-codes.html). Show this to your ins agent... a good one will come to your home/vehicle for something like this.

desertkj · **Joined:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:24 pm **Posts:** 677

Personally, I dont believe that Chrysler will do anything even if the ESP was the direct cause of the incident. It does say "no system can overcome the laws of physics". Also, even if it did fail, it is a luxury, not a necessity. I don't even have ABS and my KJ hasn't hit anything in six years. I'm sorry if this comes across as offensive, but people are becoming too reliant on electronic systems in their cars.

tzuraw · **Joined:** Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:52 pm **Posts:** 18

In the driver's defense, if the system locked up the back wheels as they were coming around a turn in wet conditions I would think that would be enough to cause a crash. I agree that we do not need these safety functions but if you have ABS you have to hope they never lock up the tires without warning.

Stability Control Failure Caused Accident

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