485,000 Ford Escape SUVs will be recalled due to certain problems noted in its gas pedal. These defects have resulted in 13 crashes, nine injuries and death of a 17 year old girl in January 2012 in Arizona. This recall will cover all Ford Escape SUVs manufactured between 2001 and 2004 model years. Gas pedals are reported to be faulty and are sticking in place thereby leading to crashes. Hence the company had decided to launch a worldwide recall after total of 68 complaints were received.
Investigations conducted by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed that out of these 484,600 SUVs, 421,000 were sold in US markets itself. In the case of the one reported death in Arizona, the Escape accelerated out of control and rammed into a sedan which flipped over three times before throwing the girl out of the vehicle leading to her death. This was caused due to inadequate clearance between engine cover and speed control cable. This fault is only noticed when driver has to press the pedal all the way.
Ford will be recalling all these vehicles and will be replacing engine cover fastener so as to raise it sufficiently to avoid the recurrence of this problem. Ford has been in the news for a number of other recalls recently. Earlier this month, Ford recalled 11,500 2013 models with 1.6 liter engines due to faulty fuel lines which could crack thereby leading to leak of fuel which could trigger off fires. Before that, Ford recalled 10,000 2013 Escape SUV's to fix carpet padding that came in the way of efficient braking. Ford will be promoting their new EcoBoost engines globally in the month of August.
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