There are accidents that are caused by no fault of either driver. Rather, the accidents are caused by defective auto products. Sometimes this is due to negligent design, while other times there are defects. In cases where there are accidents caused by these defects, this falls under the category of product liability.
Take for example the fact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating certain models of Ford cars and SUVs to see if a defect is leading to a reduction in power. For drivers, this reduction in power can feel like the vehicle is unexpectedly stalling out. In some cases, when this happens, it also appears that in an effort to not stall out there is a power surge.
So far, issues related to the stalling and surging have been related to three crashes. Of these crashes, one person was injured. There have also been roughly 1,500 complaints made to the NHTSA.
The issue of the stalling and surging is reportedly related to model years 2009 through 2011 for the Ford Fusion and Ford Escape, as well as the Mercury Mariner SUVs and the Mercury Milan. However, it should be noted that Ford got rid of the Mercury brand in 2010.
In response to this investigation, Ford claims the issue in the stalling and surging was related to faulty printed circuit boards. The manufacturing process of these circuit boards was changed in 2009, which NHTSA said resolved the problem. However, this does not explain why vehicles manufactured after the 2009 manufacturing change are still having the same issues.
For example, 80 percent of the complaints related to stalling and surging in the Ford Fusion models came in starting in March 2012.
Looking to the future, this investigation could end up leading to a recall. The hope though is that something is done in order to prevent accidents.