Ford’s New Spider Screen is Good News for Arachnophobes

Imagine this: You’re driving in your F150 through rural Utah, pleasantly singing along to your favorite Hall & Oats album when the unthinkable happens: a nasty uninvited spider descends from the car’s visor and dangles itself in front of you. What do you do? Do you furiously swipe at it like your life depends on it? Do you freak out in uncontrolled screams and serve the car off the road?

Luckily for most Ford drivers in Utah and around the country, this will not be a problem any more, as Ford recently released new ground-breaking technology that prevents spiders from entering the F150 or other vehicles. Okay, maybe “ground-breaking technology” might be a little bit of an over-exaggeration, but for all the arachnophobes out there this is a very big deal.

Whether someone is driving a Ford F150, an SUV or a small passenger car, Ford’s new spider screen can provide peace of mind for the driver inside. The new screen keeps spiders out of the car, which can also protect it from the damaged caused by their webs and nests.

As strange as it may seem, there have been a lot of cases in Utah and elsewhere where the cause of a car accident was actually a spider. Besides causing accidents, spiders can also cause damage to cars by blocking fuel vapor lines with their webs. Spiders have even caused automakers to recall their vehicles. 

For example, in the summer of 2014 Suzuki had to recall more than 19,000 medium-sized cars after they found out that spiders could clog their fuel vapor vent hose. In April of that same year, Mazda also had to recall 42,000 Mazda 6 cars due to potential spider damage. Fortunately, the F150 and other Ford cars have not had any such issues.

Even though many different kinds of spiders have made their way into vehicles over the years, the most common arachnid to be found doing damage to cars is the yellow sac spider. In a statement on Ford’s site, David Gimby, a Ford fuel system engineer said: “When it’s time to build a birthing cocoon or an over-winter cocoon, they seek a cavity or a depression, like a fuel vapor line opening, which allows them to maximize the use of their silk.”

People from Utah to the East Coast fear spiders, but thanks to this new technology by Ford, they can once again drive with peace of mind knowing that their car is safe from any damage or random scares from spiders.

Ian Francis  is a automative writer reporter for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Henry Day Ford.