According to government accident statistics, one in every 2,700 Ford Explorers built between 1990 and 2001 has rolled over and killed someone in the car. This has resulted in hundreds of deaths.

In March, that number grew to include my six-year-old daughter Natasha and her mom, Chelsea -- the loves of my life. I was in the vehicle as well and survived, but not without everlasting physical and emotional injury. My family has been taken away from me, and Ford and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are both to blame, because they have known about this vehicle’s horrible safety record for decades and not taken it off the road.

Please join me in calling on the NHTSA to demand that Ford Motor Company recall all of its first generation Ford Explorers immediately, before more innocent lives are lost.

Ford internal documents prove that the company's own engineers had discovered potential dangers that could make the vehicle especially lethal during a tire blowout. And this was before the first generation was even released. For many years following that, as the death toll rose, efforts were made to change various key features on the SUV to make it safer.

But the fatal accidents continued to happen. And now, those that are still on the road pose even more serious problems, since they are older and likely don’t get maintained as well as they should. How many more people have to lose their families before we fix this problem once and for all?

If you don't own an early Ford Explorer, you are still at risk. A Ford Explorer is 16 times as likely as the typical family car to kill occupants of another vehicle in a crash. This is an issue of public safety for the country as a whole.

This many years later, they are still arguing over whether it’s the tires, the shock absorbers or the roof strength that has caused so many fatal accidents, but the fact remains - they kill people at an alarming rate. If we want to finally be safe from the risks these vehicles pose, we must take them off the road now.

Please sign my petition calling on the NHTSA to force a recall of all first generation Ford Explorers for disposal.