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NHTSA investigating Chrysler for airbags, ignition switches

Chrysler is being targeted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a pair of actions that focus on over 1.2 million Jeeps, minivans and crossovers.
The first is a "preliminary investigation" that focuses on an airbag issue afflicting the Jeep Commander built in model years 2006 and 2007 and Grand Cherokee from 2005 to 2006. In total, 700,000 vehicles could potentially be affected. It's not entirely clear what the airbag issue is, with The Detroit Free Press simply stating that the restraint systems in the affected Jeeps may be "faulty."
The other investigation is what's called a "recall query" and it covers a problem that General Motors should be familiar with. In this case, there could be a problem with the ignition switches of 525,000 vehicles, ranging from 2008 to 2010 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, to the 2008 to 2010 Dodge Journey crossover. Again, it's not entirely clear what sort of behavior prompted the 32 complaints that NHTSA has received on these vehicles.

Fort Worth Police investigating officer for using pepper spray on bikers

A Fort Worth Police officer was placed on administrative duties after video surfaced showing him allegedly spraying pepper spray at a group of passing motorcyclists during a traffic stop over the weekend. An officer with the FWPD pulled over one of the group's chase vehicles, a red Dodge Ram, that was escorting riders in case of a crash or mechanical troubles. The video, shot from one of the motorcyclists' helmet cams, caught the FWPD officer exiting his vehicle and, before approaching the truck, spraying something into traffic at the group of riders. WFAA News 8 spoke with the men responsible for the video, Jack Kinney and Chase Stone, via Skype from Longview, TX, on March 13. "It's the last thing I would expect to see," Kinney told the station. "His intent was to hit the bikers for sure, there's no doubt about it," said Stone. "His intent was to send somebody down, if not to cause a major accident with that spray". As the video went viral, receiving more than 200,000 views in 15 hours, people shared videos showing the group of motorcyclists riding in an irresponsible manner through traffic right before the alleged pepper spray incident. Fort Worth Police say they received numerous calls about the pack of riders from motorists on surrounding highways, with complaints ranging from weaving in and out of lanes to popping wheelies through traffic at high speed. News 8 asked Kinney and Stone if it was possible that the officer felt threatened. "If you're worried about safety, why would you pepper spray a large group of bikers like that?" asked Kinney. The Dallas Morning News identified the officer as W. Figueroa. Worth Police released an official statement about the incident late on the afternoon of March 13. They stated that the officer in question, a six-year FWPD veteran, had been relieved of his patrol duties and placed on desk duty pending the investigation. FWPD Corporal Tracey Knight also made a statement indicating that pepper-spraying drivers in oncoming traffic is not a department-sanctioned tactic. News Source: WFAA News 8, The Dallas Morning News Government/Legal Dodge RAM Safety Truck Motorcycle Police/Emergency Videos Sedan road rage bikers

Dodge Dart getting hatchback variant... sort of

In other parts of the world, Fiat builds and sells a version of the Dodge Dart called the Viaggio, and it appears that in addition to the current sedan bodystyle, a new hatchback version of the car is also in the works. Autocar says that the general manager for China's Guangzhou-Fiat joint venture, John Burton, has confirmed that a new Viaggio hatchback will be revealed by the end of this year before it goes on sale in early 2014.
The Viaggio will soon be joined by the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, which in China will be called the Liberty Light, at the Guangzhou-Fiat plant. While the idea of a Dodge Dart hatchback might be enough to enable most of us to forget about the Dodge Caliber, a North American variant doesn't appear to be in the cards. We reached out to Chrysler PR boss Rick Deneau, and he offered a succinct: "No plans at this time."