2002 Ford Escape body & structure problems

On nov 26 I was driving to my work at 45 miles per hour and the distance I kept from the car in front of me was sufficient to allow me stopping adequately. Suddenly, I noticed that traffic was approaching to a red light so I tap on the brakes to slow down and stop. However, the brakes were not reducing the speed so immediately I stamped on the brake pedal to let the car stop while simultaneously, I looked to realize that I could not change lanes.

Approximately a year ago, feb. 2011, I noticed the truck lift gate and window was not working properly. I thought maybe because of the snow and cold weather it was frozen. The next few weeks it worked on and off. Then after a month or so it stopped working at all. I searched to see if there was a recall on this part and there was one, I called ford but they said my VIN was not on their list of recalls for that problem so I was out of luck and one year later it still does not work.