NHTSA Drops Ford SUV Rollaway Probe

U.S. safety officials have closed a probe into complaints that certain Ford SUVs could roll away after their transmissions were shifted into Park.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it ended the investigation without ordering a recall because of the "drastically declining" frequency of reported problems.

The agency launched its probe in 2009. It looked for possible defects in the transmission and/or brake-shift interlock system in 2002-2005 Ford Explorer, 2002-2005 Mercury Mountaineer and 2003-2005 Lincoln Aviator SUVs.

NHTSA received 180 complaints that the affected vehicles could roll away after being shifted into Park. The agency says the problem was most likely caused by excessive wear to the brake-shift interlock system, which is designed to prevent the vehicle from being shifted out of Park until the brake pedal is pressed.

NHTSA says mechanical parts of the Ford system could wear or deform if the driver repeatedly hit the brake and shifted out of Park within 0.4 seconds. Eventually, the damage could make it difficult to shift into Park, thus making it more likely that a parked vehicle's transmission was not properly locked.