April 13, 2008

New York Times, "Huge Recall, but Many Cars Unfixed"

A faulty Ford cruise control switch has been blamed for 1,500 fires. In Lithonia, Ga., a neighbor photographed a Ford F-150 going up in flames along with a nearby garage.

[Photographs courtesy of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP]

AFTER six recalls to correct problems with millions of Ford Motor Company cruise-control switches blamed for almost 1,500 fires, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took an unusual step. In February, it issued a consumer advisory urging owners whose vehicles had not yet been fixed to have the switches disconnected immediately.

"Vehicles are continuing to catch fire and buildings are continuing to catch fire because the remedy hasn't been effected yet," Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the safety agency, said. "This is a defect that could possibly have dire consequences, and we wanted to do what we could to try to make people more aware of the need to get vehicles back to the dealer quickly -- if not for the permanent remedy, at least for a short-term remedy."

The recalls -- which included what the government called a recall of a recall -- began in 1999. They covered some 10 million Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles from 1992-2004, a record number recalled for a single problem.

Ford had already set the record for the largest recall, which also involved a potential fire hazard. That was for 7.9 million vehicles with ignition switch problems. The agency's February advisory concerned a cruise-control deactivation switch that could develop a short circuit. Regulators say that could cause a vehicle to catch fire even while it is parked and the ignition is off. The switch's function is to cut off the cruise control when the driver taps the brakes.

The safety administration says it can connect 65 fires to switch failures, but the problem could be far greater: the agency received 1,472 complaints or allegations of engine compartment fires related to the switches before the investigation was closed in August 2006. Because investigators were often unable to contact owners, not enough data could be collected to make a final determination on many complaints. The agency also received 60 more fire complaints since the inquiry ended. The agency has not linked switch failures to any deaths, but at least three wrongful death suits have been filed against Ford.

Learn more about Ford vehicle fires and the rights of people injured by car, SUV, van and truck fires.