Ford has announced that it has issued a massive recall for about 2 million Ford F-150 trucks in North America. The recall is based on a malfunction with the seat belts however the failure of the seat belts can actually cause a fire.
According to Ford, “some front seat belt pretensioners can generate excessive sparks when they deploy.” The company further stated that “when sufficient sparks are present, gases exhausted inside the lower portion of the B-pillar by the pretensioners may ignite. If this gas ignites, components behind the B-pillar such as insulation and carpet may subsequently catch fire.”
According to reports in the media, Ford is aware of about 17 reports of smoke and or fires in the United States and another 6 incidents in Canada.
Ford announced that dealers will remove the specific parts of the seat belt and will apply heat-resistant tape and materials to the areas where the sparks may occur. These repairs will be done at no cost to the customers.
The recall is believed to have come as a result of a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration investigation that found that there were numerous reports of fires and charred and burned Ford F-150 vehicles. It was unclear from the report if any of the trucks that caught fire injured any of the occupants that were inside the vehicle.
2015 to 2018 Ford F-150 vehicles built at certain plants are part of the recall. Ford should be reaching out to those owners individually.
If litigation were to arise from such a fire or a specific defect, the allegations in the lawsuit will likely include a products liability type action. A products liability action will seek to hold the car manufacturer liable for any harms that result from the defect of the vehicle.
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