Ford recalled nearly 1.5 million pickup trucks Wednesday that could downshift without warning and cause their drivers to crash, the automaker announced.

The recall includes 2011-13 Ford F-150 vehicles with 6-speed automatic transmission that could experience the problem when sending a signal from the transmission speed sensor, the company said.

Ford said it was aware of five accidents that were caused by the glitch including one report of “whiplash.”

About 1.48 million F-150 pickup trucks built at Dearborn Assembly Plant from April 28, 2010 to Oct. 28, 2013, and Kansas City Assembly Plant from May 18, 2010 to Nov. 18, 2013 are on the list of recalled vehicles.

Anyone with an affected pickup truck will be notified by letter and can take it to their dealership so its powertrain control module software can be updated, Ford said.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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