Ford Pickups Can Downshift Without Warning, Increasing Crash Risks

(CTN News) – There are complaints that more than 540,000 Ford pickup trucks in the United States tend to abruptly downshift to a lower gear, increasing the likelihood of a crash if this occurs. U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating the complaints.

It has been reported on various news Ford outlets that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into the problem with the automatic transmissions on the trucks after receiving 86 consumer complaints about this problem in the past week.

The police report stated that the investigation is focused on Ford F-150 models manufactured from the 2014 model year, according to investigation documents.

Considering this problem, it would have been reasonable for the trucks in question to have been part of previous recalls, which are currently being investigated by the agency.

There has been a complaint alleging that the trucks can suddenly shift to a lower gear without any warning to the operator.

Often, the rear wheels of the consumer’s truck would lock up, with one consumer telling the Ford agency that he had downshifted abruptly, causing the truck to crash into a concrete barrier and another vehicle as a result. A pickup truck driver and the driver of the other vehicle both suffered injuries as a result of the accident.

Apparently, the company is cooperating with NHTSA in order to assist with the investigation, as per the company’s statement. Despite the fact that there are many pickup trucks being sold in the U.S., Ford’s F-Series pickup trucks are the most popular.

An identical recall was conducted for certain Ford F-150 pickup trucks that were manufactured between 2011 and 2012 in 2016 due to the same problem. The recall was later expanded to include models manufactured in 2013 as well.

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