The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the 2005 and 2006 Ford Taurus after it received multiple complaints alleging defects involving cruise control. Those complaints state that detached cruise-control cables caused the cars’ throttles to stick, preventing drivers from maintaining full control of the cars.
Thankfully, the NHTSA has not yet heard of any car accidents and injuries caused by these potential automobile defects.
According to the complaints, the Taurus engine revved up to 4,000 RPMs when shifted into neutral or park. Drivers were allegedly unable to stop their cars, and some drivers even had to shut off their cars’ engines or put the cars in neutral to stop them. One driver stated that he drove through a red light before being able to stop his car.
In order for comparison, and to understand the scope of the problem, the NHTSA will look at the 2001-2006 Ford Taurus models as well as the Mercury Stable. If the NHTSA’s investigation proves that there is a problem with these cars, nearly 1.92 million cars could be recalled.
Automobile defects
Hopefully, this is a case where the NHTSA will act quickly to investigate the potential automobile defects and prevent any injury-causing accidents from occurring.
Since 1966, more than 299 million motor vehicles have been recalled for safety defects. It is difficult to estimate how many individuals were injured by those defects, but sometimes defects are only recognized and fixed after they have already hurt someone.
If the NHTSA discovers that there is a defect in the Ford cars, the manufacturer will have three options to correct the defect, including repairing it, replacing the cars or refunding car owners. While fixing defects can cost car manufacturers quite a bit of money, failing to repair the defects can cost lives.
If you have been injured by a car defect, you can bring a defective product lawsuit against the manufacturer of the car or auto part that caused your accident.
Source: Detroit News, “NHTSA expands probe of stuck throttles to 1.9M Ford vehicles,” David Shepardson, Mar. 13, 2012.