FILE - In this photo taken Jan. 24, 2014, crews investigate the scene of a double fatal crash involving a 12-ton semi-trailer loaded with groceries on U.S. 50, near state Route 222, in Stonelick Township, Ohio. An Alabama company that made a tractor-trailer hitch involved in the deadly Ohio crash last year is bowing to government pressure and will recall 6,800 hitches. Fontaine Fifth Wheel of Trussville, Ala., agreed to the recall in August 2015, according to documents posted Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (Glenn Hartong/The Enquirer via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES
September 10, 2015 - 7:27 AM
DETROIT - An Alabama company that made a tractor-trailer hitch involved in a deadly Ohio crash last year is bowing to government pressure and will recall 6,800 hitches.
Fontaine Fifth Wheel of Trussville, Alabama, agreed to the recall in August, according to documents posted Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The safety agency began investigating the hitches in June, 17 months after a 12-ton semi-trailer came loose from its tractor and plowed into oncoming traffic near Cincinnati. Two men driving pickup trucks were killed in the crash on U.S. 50.
Fontaine says in documents filed with the agency that the hitch locking mechanisms can be damaged over time by truck operators who don't follow proper coupling and maintenance procedures.
Fontaine will replace the defective hitches with a different model.
News from © The Associated Press, 2015