The 2012 Ford Focus topped The Safety Institute's quarterly "Watch List" due to steering problems.
Drivers of the 2012 Ford Focus sustained more injuries than those in any other vehicle in the U.S., according to The Safety Institute’s quarterly “Watch List.” It’s the second straight quarter the Focus has topped the list.
The complaints, which are made to the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), center on two issues: allegations that the electric power steering shuts down randomly and intermittently as well as complaints about delaminating steering wheels that lacerate drivers’ hands.
“The steering wheel has sharp metal edges protruding from the top of the wheel,” one person wrote in a complaint. “While driving on the highway, I sliced my finger on the edge. Not a major incident… but upon reviewing the Internet this is apparently a common issue with the Ford Focus… My hope is that Ford will repair or replace the metal on the wheel so it is no longer a danger while driving.”
Currently there are no investigations by NHTSA into either issue. The list is compiled using death and injury claims filed to NHTSA’s Early Warning Reports System. The system is one of the tools the agency is supposed to use to discover potential problems with vehicles.
“The Safety Institute’s Vehicle Safety Watch List provides an opportunity for regulators and manufacturers to examine unusual patterns of claims and resolve them before they become major crises” said Sean Kane, founder and president of the board of directors of The Safety Institute.
The next two top claims involved the service brakes of the 2011 and 2012 Chevy Cruze. In August 2013, General Motors recalled 293,000 2011 and 2012 Cruzes for intermittent loss of the brake assist. Despite the recall, some owners are still experiencing problems, which the institute suggests means the recall repair wasn’t done properly.
After that, Toyota products dominate the rest of the top 10 complaints, although the aforementioned Focus sneaks again at No. 7 due to an electrical problem. Toyota’s biggest seller in the U.S. until last year, the Camry, netted complaints about “speed control.”
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Injury claims related to speed control problems, including potential unintended acceleration incidents, put the 2007 Toyota Camry, the 2005 Camry, the 2006 Camry, and the 2009 Camry at fifth, eighth, 11th and 12th places, respectively, on the current quarterly list.
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“This pattern strongly suggests that Toyota’s recalls for floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals have not succeeded in eliminating complaints and claims, and that vehicles not included in the recalls continue to experience problems,” the institute said in a release.
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The rest of the list, including the vehicle, place on the list and the reason: 2006 Toyota Sienna, fourth, structure; 2008 Toyota Sienna, sixth, powertrain; 2006 Toyota RAV4, ninth, suspension; 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, 10th, electrical; 2004 Toyota Sienna, 13th, structure; 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, 14th, electrical; and 2005 Toyota Sienna, 15th, structure.
5 years of work on that steering wheel down the drain.
The nation lost a font of empirical data on this sort of thing when demolition derbys mysteriously died off, around the same time as honey bees and bats. Used to be as many derbys as county fairs, more or less.