Two leading car manufacturers – Ford Motor Company and Honda Motor Company – are recalling nearly two million vehicles after the former’s brake issue caused a crash.
Ford Motor Company announced the recall of more than 1.2 million of its vehicles in the United States because of an issue with leaky brake hoses, which reportedly already caused a car crash, The Daily Mail reported.
Documents made public at the end of last week by US safety regulators disclose Ford made it clear that an issue with the front brake hoses of the defective vehicles could cause them to rupture and leak fluid.
That, in turn, could lead to longer brake pedal travel, and, respectively, to longer stopping distances and possible crashes. The brake hoses of recalled vehicles will be replaced by dealers. Ford will send the owners of the problematic cars notification letters beginning on April 17.
Once the parts for the fix become available, the owners will receive a second letter from the manufacturer. In the meantime, Ford Motor Company advises any car owners of the above-mentioned models to contact their dealer.
It also reveals that some parts for the recall repairs have already become available. Ford informs further that only about 2% of the recalled vehicles would experience leaks of their brake hoses.
A separate Ford recall includes over 222,000 pickups, model F-150, from 2021, whose windshield wiper arms are prone to breaking. The manufacturer will start informing owners on March 27 and arms that need replacing, will be replaced by dealers.
Several days ago, Honda Motor Company also announced a big recall of 500,000 cars, including its Accord model, which is deemed popular with rideshare drivers. The other recalled models are also approved for use by Lyft, Uber, and other companies for ride-sharing services.
The issue that Honda found involves potentially preventing the front seat belts from hatching, which could increase the risk of injury.
The Honda recall means that Accords, Hybrid Accords, and Odysseys, which are used by Uber and Lyft drivers in New York, could find themselves out of operation for days until the problem is fixed.
The report notes that eligible models differ depending on the city, the driver’s license and the year the car was produced. Honda’s numbers for the recall in question are ZDE, NDA, QDB, MDD, BDC, LD9, FDG, TDF, YDI, and ODH.
The company’s recall documents reveal the coating of the buckle channel surface of the seatbelt could worsen over time. At low temperatures, the release button could shrink against the channel. That could lead to buckle latching issues for the seat belt.
The buckle assemblies or release buttons of the seat belt buckles will be replaced by Honda dealers for free if necessary. According to the documents, by early March, Honda had no reports of deaths or injuries caused by the seat belt buckle issue.