Feds probe 730,000 Ford Escapes, Mazda Tributes over crashes from stuck throttles

Federal auto safety regulators will investigate Ford's recall of thousands of Ford Escape SUVs after 99 complaints that the vehicles still suffer from a mechanical flaw that leads to sudden acceleration -- including one from a crash in Arizona earlier this year that killed a 17-year-old girl. The safety advocate who pushed for the probe contends Ford knew of the problem for years, but did nothing to fix it.

The issue dates to 2004, when Ford and Mazda recalled 591,345 Ford Escapes and mechanically identical Mazda Tribute SUVs built between the 2002 and 2004 model year with V-6 engines. In that recall, Ford warned owners that a liner around the cable connecting the accelerator pedal to the engine could move out of position, blocking the pedal from springing back and keeping the engine's throttle open.

Ford first sent dealers instructions on how to fix the problem in December 2004, and began alerting customers to bring their Escapes in for repairs. But 10 months later, in October 2005, Ford sent a different set of instructions to dealers, warning them that if they weren't careful with the repair, they could damage the cruise control cable.

The Center for Auto Safety, a Washington advocacy group, says that problem with cruise control cables should have been its own recall, since some 319,506 Escapes had been potentially repaired incorrectly before Ford sent its updated instructions, and that the kink in the cruise control cable can happen independently.