Ford recalls 485,000 Escapes on acceleration defect

NEW YORK – Ford Motor Company recalled nearly 485,000 Escape sport utility vehicles Thursday due to a problem with unintended acceleration.

The defect can cause the throttle to stick.

US safety regulators announced last week that they were opening an investigation following a complaint about a number of accidents, including a fatal crash in January.

“This recall is voluntary,” a Ford spokesman told AFP.

The bulk of the recalled vehicles – from model years 2001 to 2004 – are in the United States, while 19,000 were recalled in Mexico.

This latest recall comes a week after Ford told 11,500 owners of its newest Ford Escape SUVs to immediately stop driving them because the engine could catch fire.

No injuries have been reported because of that defect so far, said Ford, the second-largest US automaker.