National Highway Traffic Safety Administration exhorted owners of certain unrepaired Ford, Lincoln and Mercury SUVs, pickup trucks, vans, and certain passenger cars that contain a safety defect to take their vehicles to dealer authorized repair shops without delay, for their cruise control switch must be disconnected. Because most dealers will perform this as a "drive through" service, vehicle owners will neither have to leave their vehicles at the dealership nor schedule an appointment in advance.
By not having the switch disconnected, a fire in the vehicle could start at any time; the key does not need to be in the ignition, and the driver does not need to employ the cruise control system. According safety agency, fire is always a danger under these conditions, regardless of the age of the vehicle, and it's even possible that the fire could occur while the vehicle is parked and unattended. The problem is known to have caused several dwelling fires.
NHTSA said it is issuing the consumer advisory to answer concerns that many owners have not responded to numerous safety defect recall notifications that concern roughly 9.6 million registered vehicles. It said that only five million vehicles have been repaired so far, which means that approximately five million passenger cars and light trucks still have the faulty switches intact, and are in danger of catching fire.
As an interim safety measure, all owners of recalled vehicles not repaired yet are being urged by Ford and the NHTSA that have not been repaired to bring their vehicles to dealers as soon as possible to have the faulty switches disconnected. Ford is in the process of re-notifying owners of the SUVs and other light trucks to stress the importance of having the switch disconnected.
The NHTSA said this interim fix will eliminate the risk of fire while affected Ford and Mercury owners are waiting for final repairs from the company.