2024 Nissan Altima

This request is due to my concern that a possible manufacturing or other defect in the 2024 Nissan Altima’s steering and/or wheel mechanisms caused a sudden loss of steering control and resulted in a collision and serious injuries. The car was taken possession by National Car Rental. I am unsure if the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others, but it has been reported to the manufacturer (Nissan), my insurance company (State Farm), and the car rental company (National). I don't think there were any warning lights. The following is what I experienced. I was driving, passengers were in the front and rear right seats. The car was in the right lane on [XXX] heading into an underpass when the Altima experienced a sudden jolt in the steering wheel with smoke coming out of the steering wheel; steering turned very stiff as if it had lost power and the car pulled to the right and off the road. I struggled to maintain control over the vehicle; nonetheless, given the narrow shoulder of the underpass and the sudden difficult steering, the car collided lengthwise along the passenger side against a cement barrier and metal guardrail. The front and back passenger-side airbags deployed, striking both passengers; rear seat passenger was seriously injured; driver and front passenger were bruised. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

While driving vehicle down residential street at approximately 15 mph, vehicle all of a sudden made a long noise and began to shake. Per repair facility, a bolt in the transmission housing was not installed at manufacturing plant. The single bolt (should have been two bolts), sheared off, cause the drive shaft to drop into the catalytic converter. If I had been traveling on the highway at high speed the drive shaft dropping to the highway surface could have caused catastrophic accident. Peoria Nissan has component that failed Drive shaft dropping out of drive train could have cause and accident with my vehicle and others Manufacturer has been notified, they have inspected No warnings or symptoms prior to failure