This should never have happened. A definite materials design flaw. The soft plastic bumper on the brake pedal shaft shattered due to heat causing a gap between the pedal shaft & the switch button as if the pedal were being held down. This ran the battery down. I rubber cemented a metal spacer on the shaft to take up the gap & bought a new battery (needed replacement anyway as a precaution in our hot climate). I then replaced the plastic spacer on my other Escort that is parked in the shade to avoid the possibility of same problem in future.