Ford Recalls 150,000 F-150 Trucks Over Airbag Concerns

Denis Leary may shout about how crazy smart the engineers at Ford are in those irritating TV ads, but those engineers apparently weren’t smart enough to include an airbag that might not deploy without warning in the F-150 pickup.

For that reason, Ford has announced a recall of nearly 150,000 F-150 trucks in the U.S. and Canada from model years 2005-2006 to fix the potential airbag issue.

This recall comes after the federal government had voiced concern over a potential problem with the popular pickup truck. After reviewing over 200 complaints of airbags that deployed unexpectedly, 77 of which actually resulted in injury, NHTSA actually sent Ford a formal letter requesting a recall of 1.3 million F-150 trucks from model years 2004-2006, but the company ended up going with the significantly smaller recall.

From Detroit News:

The agency said in a statement Tuesday that it is reviewing Ford’s limited recall and will determine whether it is sufficient — since it proposes to recall one out of 10 vehicles sought by NHTSA. The agency’s assistant administrator can make a formal finding that a safety defect exists. A public meeting would follow in which Ford would make its case and NHTSA Administrator David Strickland would decide whether to order a recall. Ford could challenge a recall order in U.S. District Court.

In resisting a recall, Ford had argued that the number of incidents was low, that the injuries were minor and that “consumers received adequate warning” because the air bag warning light was on and they should have gotten the vehicle serviced.

“Ford is committed to safety and will continue to work cooperatively with NHTSA in addressing any further questions,” said a rep for Ford.

Ford to recall F-150 trucks over air bags [Detroit News]

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