Lincoln MKZ Added to Ford Floor Mats Probe

A couple of years ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe on the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan for the possibility of unintended acceleration due to unsecured or stacked floor mats.

Recently, NHTSA upgraded its investigation to an engineering analysis, which is the second step in the process that could ultimately lead to a recall on the vehicles affected. In addition to the 249,000 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan models that were previously under investigation, the agency has added the Lincoln MKZ to the list, bringing the probe to a total of 480,000 Ford vehicles.

Similar to the issue that Toyota ran into several years ago, NHTSA is looking into how unsecured floor mats can block the accelerator pedal from returning to idle. So far no deaths or injuries have been related to the issue and the American automaker believes that the “condition under investigation relates to improperly installed, unsecured or double stacked floor mats,” said Ford spokeswoman Susan Krusel.

A total of 52 complaints have been registered to Ford and safety regulators, where drivers reported difficulty in braking when trying to slow their vehicles down.

[Source: Reuters.com]