Now that government regulators are cracking down on negligent automakers, the manufacturers themselves are stepping up to try and put water on the flames before things get out of hand like they have at Mitsubishi. Ford is the latest to do so because it has just announced five recalls for over 285,000 North American vehicles. The first batch of affected cars include 201,900 F-150s, Mustangs, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators from the 2011 and 2012 model years.

These cars have a faulty output speed sensor on the transmission, which can cause an untimely shift into first gear, causing the tires to lock up and slide. A replacement of the lead transmission frame is necessary to remedy this issue. Like Chevy's recent recall, Ford's other major recall encapsulates police cars including 81,036 Explorers and Police Interceptor Utility vehicles from 2014 and 2015. Suspension toe links that were welded improperly are to blame here and can morph into loss of steering control in extreme scenarios. To fix this, Ford is forcing its dealers to replace left and right rear toe links and align the suspension. Smaller recalls include problems with tires, driver airbag modules, and driver seat track assemblies.

The tire problem affects 2,600 F-150s of the 2016 model year. Apparently they have tires that could have been damaged by a conveyer belt. The driver airbag module problem affects the 2007-2012 Ford Flex, Ford Taurus, Lincoln MKS and Mercury Sable. In this case, a chemical that helps with second stage airbag deployment may be missing from the airbag and will be replaced. The driver's seat track recall affects the 2016 Ford Fusion. These metal components may have been improperly welded, causing them to be weaker than they should be and can pose problems during crashes, much like GM's cars with 0-Star crash test ratings. Automakers can learn a lot from this Ford recall, like how to not be bad companies that hide their problems.