(July 27, 2012)  Ford is recalling 424,000 Escapes in the United States, model years 2001 through 2004,  because a cruise control defect may cause the throttle to stick, leading to unintended acceleration.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it was investigating the safety defect July 17, based on 99 complaints, including 13 crashes and the death of a 17-year-old Arizona girl.

Almost 424,000 U.S. vehicles with three-liter, six-cylinder engines will be covered under the recall, according to documents Ford provided to NHTSA. There's inadequate clearance between the engine cover and a control cable in those models, Ford said.

For the 2001-2004 model year recall, there also are about 35,000 vehicles in Canada, 19,000 in Mexico, 4,500 in Europe and 4,300 in other regions, Ford said. In Europe, the model is called the Maverick.

It wasn't immediately known if the Escape's assembly line sibling, the Mazda Tribute, also would be recalled.

Mazda has been working "hand-in-hand with Ford and NHTSA" on the stuck throttle investigation but as of this afternoon had not issued a recall of the Tribute SUVs from 2001-2004, said a company spokesman.

Affected owners will be notified by mail and instructed to take their SUVs to a Ford or Lincoln dealer, the company said. The notices will go out beginning Aug. 6, Ford said.

Source: Bloomberg News