general problems of the 1999 Ford Explorer Sport

Son was driving to school. Maneuvered to avoid contact with a deer and he lost control. Tire burst and front end collapsed. He didn't make contact with any object. Called triple a to have vehicle towed. Tow driver immediately noticed after placing vehicle on his truck that part of the inner operations of the intermediate steering control arm on one side had corroded and broke. He stated that this is why our son was not able to control the vehicle. He suggested for us to call the maker of the vehicle and see if the part is on recall and to take pictures because this was a component of the vehicle that shouldn't have gone bad. The steering and brakes were completely severed when this part of the steering corroded and snapped upon a simple manuever. We have not had the vehicle repaired because we have been advised that this is a product liability situation by an attorney. Our son was not injured. And all of the damage is underneath the vehicle. This in our opinion is a very serious safety issue. If he had been going any faster on the main highway the outcome would have been much different because of this corrosion of the inner area of this part of the steering mechanism.