This animation depicts what can occur when the vehicle’s key assembly rotates out of the “Run” position. When the ignition switch rotates from “Run” to “Accessory”, there is a loss of power to critical systems including power steering, anti-lock brakes, and airbags. This accident was a single driver incident. The driver’s keys in the ignition were jostled when the vehicle hit a defect in the road, causing the ignition to rotate out of the “Run” position. The vehicle power systems failed, resulting in the steering and braking being severely compromised and the driver losing power steering and power braking.

The vehicle left the road and impacted a tree head on, but the airbag did not deploy, injuring the driver. Our engineers conducted a scene investigation, reviewed accident photographs and crash data retrieval data, inspected an exemplar version of the vehicle, and reviewed NHTSA vehicle recall information. Evaluating this information, an accident reconstruction of the event was completed and an assessment of the likelihood of abnormal ignition switch behavior as it related to the failure of the vehicle safety systems and the potential loss of vehicle function.