2021 FORD EXPLORER — Complaint #1800488
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY STEERING filed March 9, 2022
NHTSA complaint #1800488 (ODI reference 11455879) concerns a 2021 FORD EXPLORER and was filed on March 9, 2022. The owner reports the failure occurred on March 6, 2022. The vehicle had 12,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as forward collision avoidance: automatic emergency steering, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: yes, fire: no, injuries: 1, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD EXPLORER cohort independently describe similar forward collision avoidance: automatic emergency steering failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2021 FORD EXPLORER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact leases a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his wife was driving at 25 MPH with Co-pilot 360 assist mode and the evasive steering assist engaged, she lost control of the steering wheel. The contact stated that his wife could not feel the connection between the steering wheel and the front tires of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle made a sharp right turn and crashed into a telephone pole. There were no warning lights illuminated. The air bags deployed. The contact 's wife sustained bruises and lesions on the ankle, knee cap, arms and on her left breast but did not seek medical assistance. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The vehicle was then towed to another tow lot where it was totaled. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1800488 |
| ODI Number | 11455879 |
| Date Filed | March 9, 2022 |
| Failure Date | March 6, 2022 |
| VIN | 1FMSK8DH5M |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.