The Ford Motor Company is recalling one of its best-selling trucks because of issues with the braking system. The recall involves 37, 000 F-150 pick-ups targeting the 2015 model year.
According to the company, the 2015 F-150 models can apply the brakes by mistake and possibly cause accidents. Such a situation can occur when the automatic braking system incorrectly senses that there is another vehicle in its lane.
According to NBCDFW, when an F-150 truck is in adaptive cruise control mode, the truck will apply the brakes if it detects an obstacle. Problems, however, are notably reported to occur when the pickup passes a large and highly reflective truck.
In case this happens, the car radar can be fooled into thinking that a large truck is in the F-150's lane and instantly hit the brakes. When this occurs, the collision-warning system will get activated, flashing red lights and sounding an alarm in the F-150's cab.
Ford admitted the outcome of one accident that happened as a result of this problem. Though no injuries have been reported, Ford officials said the issue can be addressed with a software update.
The F-150 recall is one of six recalls announced by Ford. It broadly affects over 340,000 Ford Windstar minivans and it applies to Windstars from the model year 1998 to 2003. Also, it is a fix to a previous recall issued in 2012.
Automatic braking systems are becoming more common in cars due to the demand for safe autos. In June, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that safety regulators should include automatic braking systems to become a standard feature on all new cars, Fox 59 reported.
Currently, several companies including Google, auto parts maker Delphi and computer maker Apple have been experimenting with self-driving cars. The tests involve their car models using a form of radar to detect problems and obstacles ahead.
Such technology is the same technology adapted in the 37000 F-150 Trucks and the Ford company has now identified flaws in installation of reinforcement brackets.