NHTSA closes the book on Dodge Viper probe

Whether it's a Dodge or an SRT, there's little question that a Viper is a whole lot of car to control. With 10 cylinders driving the rear wheels and a limited willingness to suffer fools, the occasional crash is bound to happen. But what if those crashes were the fault of the car itself, and not the driver?

That's the issue which Chrysler and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been investigating. The issue revolves around the rear suspension knuckle in the previous-generation 2003-2010 Dodge Viper (including roadsters, coupes, Competition Coupes and ACR-X track models), which was found in eight cases to have cracked in the event of an accident.

NHTSA probed the issue over the course of eight months, but according to The Detroit News, the government safety agency has determined that the suspension component failed in the course of these crashes, not before. That leaves nearly 10,000 Vipers – not to mention their manufacturer – in the clear and on the road.