Police Cars Recalled Over Loss-of-Steering Problems

355,000 Crown Victorias affected

A mysterious case of police officers losing control of their squad cars has been solved, leading to the recall of 355,000 Ford Crown Victorias—including the Police Interceptor version—Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Cars.

The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration started looking into the problem a year ago after learning of cases of the steering going out on certain types of police cars. Part of the probe included a field inspection of vehicles in the Montgomery County, Md., police fleet garage near the agency's headquarters.

The recall includes all Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Town Car vehicles from the 2005 through 2011 model years, not just the Police Interceptors.