Thousands of Freightliner Cascadia trucks recalled over hazard light issue

Daimler Trucks North America is recalling thousands of Freightliner Cascadia trucks trucks because of an issue with the hazard warning lights.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents, Daimler Trucks is recalling more than 24,000 Freightliner Cascadia trucks model year 2020-21. In affected trucks, the hazard warning lights may flash improperly during an “advanced braking assist” event. Consequently, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, “Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment.” Hazard warning lights that flash improperly may cause confusion for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.

On the affected vehicles, during certain advanced brake assist events that have progressed to require a full emergency brake application to avoid a collision, the hazard warning lights may activate automatically in the moments immediately before the vehicle comes to a complete stop and flashes at a rate of 140 flashes per min.

FMVSS 108 requires the hazard warning signal lights to be driver controlled and the flashing rate to be between 60-120 flashes per min and that the activation of the hazard warning operating unit be “driver controlled.”

Dealers will update the software controlling the hazard warning lights for free. Notification letters are expected to be mailed out on May 19.

For questions regarding the Freightliner recall, contact Daimler Trucks’ customer service at 800-547-0712 with recall number FL851. NHTSA’s number for this recall is 23V-208. LL

Other Daimler Trucks recalls:

• More than 60,000 Freightliner trucks recalled for steering issue.
• Daimler Trucks recalls Freightliner, Western Star trucks over brake issue.