Feds probe sticky throttles in 1.9M Ford sedans
Source: AP-Excite
By TOM KRISHER
DETROIT (AP) - Federal safety regulators are investigating sticky accelerators in as many as 1.9 million Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable sedans.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started the probe last week and expanded it on Monday to include cars from the 2001 through 2006 model years. The safety agency has received 14 complaints of Taurus sedans accelerating on their own. So far it has no reports of crashes or injuries because of the problem.
A faulty cruise control cable may be the cause. It can detach and hold the throttle open, the agency said in documents posted on its website. In at least two of the complaints, drivers told NHTSA that their cars took off and ran red lights before they were able to bring them to a stop by shifting them into neutral or park.
"This is an extremely dangerous situation," one driver wrote in a complaint filed in August of 2010. "There needs to be something done about this before it becomes fatal."
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120312/D9TF7O400.html
This Feb.16, 2012 photo shows the Ford logo at the 2012 Pittsburgh Auto Show. U.S. safety regulators are investigating complaints that the accelerators can stick in Ford Tauruses from the 2005 and 2006 model years. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
