NHTSA Complaint #11605735 — 2015 FORD ESCAPE

Two separate events - In parking lot, started the vehicle, backed out of the spot, pulled forward and received an alert regarding a power steering assist failed. The ability to control the car at slow speeds with regards to steering was extremely impacted. I could barely turn out of the way of traffic and pull back over into a safe area. I turned the car off then stared it back up and the error went away. The second event approx. a month later was while I was driving down a winding hill and the error error popped up on my screen again regarding the power assist failure. The even though i was traveling at 45 mph, the loss of steering assist about caused me to go off the road and down the embankment. I could have just as easily gone into incoming traffic. I was able to slow the car down significantly and put a lot of effort to get off the side of the road safely. Again, I turned the car off then back on and the problem was no longer present. Research on the internet shows this isn't an isolated event and has been reported by other owners of the same vehicle type. I will be taking the vehicle to the dealership for inspection but I'm confident they will not be able to re-create the issue since this has been a random event.