Reason Behind Ford Truck Recall? Hazardous Seat Belts

About 2 million Ford F-150 pickup trucks are being recalled due to an odd problem with seat-belt equipment. Some front seat passenger belt pretensioners "can generate excessive sparks when they deploy," causing smoke or fire, Ford says in a press release. The company knows of 23 reports of the issue generating smoke or fire in North America, most of them in the US, the Wall Street Journal reports. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation last month after learning of five fires, including three that engulfed and destroyed the vehicle, USA Today reports. Regular Cab and SuperCrew Cab F-150 vehicles between the model years 2015 through 2018 are affected; most are still in the US. There are also thousands in Canada and Mexico. (More Ford stories.)