I have a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid (purchased in April 2007), with 67,000 miles on it. I was traveling at 65mph, starting to head into the Sierra outside of sacramento, California. I had been driving for 2 hours, and had traveled 120 miles that morning when the car engine suddenly cut out, and the warning light "stop safely now" appeared on the dash. Luckily, it was only 6am and there was only one other car near me on the road. I pulled over 3 lanes, brakes and steering working, but with no gas. I turned the car off for a minute, started it up without any problems or warning lights. I waited another minute or two, and headed out on the road. When I got back up to 65mph the engine cut out and the warning showed up again. This time I was already near the shoulder so I stopped again. I was about to get into a snowy uphill climb and decided that, not knowing what this car would do, that it was unsafe to continue. I drove slowly to the next exit, and got myself turned around. For the first hour I drove at under 60mph without any problems. I was able to achieve 65mph in the second hour without problem. I had the error codes assessed by a Ford dealer and they said it was an mec pump failure (the pump that cools the electric battery). I was very lucky that this happened with so little traffic volume. There was no warning, and the sudden cut out of the engine was startling and unsafe. I feared for my life while heading home as the volume of cars picked up around me.

- San Francisco, CA, USA