Ford Taurus complaints get safety regulators’ attention
As many as 360,000 Ford Taurus sedans could be included in a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into possibly faulty accelerators.
Vehicles from model years 2005 and 2006 are the subject of 14 complaints — but no reports of crashes or injuries — stemming from what drivers said were detached cruise control cables and sticking throttles.
Federal safety regulators said Wednesday that some drivers said they struggled to stop their cars with their brakes and had to resort to shutting off the engine or shifting into neutral mode.
One driver with a 2005 Taurus reported running a red light before being able to stop. The car reportedly sped up to 70 miles per hour even though the driver had both feet on the brake pedal. “Wow, the scariest thing I have ever experienced,” the driver wrote in a complaint. “If there was heavy traffic someone would have been killed, no doubt in my mind.
“I am very fearful to drive it, because you never know when it will do it again.”
Another Taurus owner said that the vehicle’s engine was running at 4,000 revolutions per minute while in park and returned to normal range below 1,000 rpm only after the gas pedal was tapped twice.
So far, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation is conducting only a preliminary evaluation, not a recall of the Tauruses, the agency said.
Ford issued a statement saying, “We are aware of the NHTSA investigation and, as always, we will cooperate fully with the agency.”
