Sudden Unintended Accelerations

Sudden Unintended Acceleration is a rapid, unintended acceleration that occurs any time after the vehicle ignition is engaged. Sudden Unintended Acceleration has occurred in various vehicle models after putting the vehicle into drive or reverse and the breaking mechanisms have been of little or no help in avoiding accidents.

Sudden acceleration complaints began in the 1980s. In most cases the drivers were blamed for these accidents - meaning drivers were accused of stepping on the gas not the brake. Testing had shown that some of these accidents were caused by defective electric throttle control systems. Electronic throttle controls use sensors to tell a vehicle’s computer how much to open the throttle, which lets in air, and indicates how much fuel to inject into the engine to control speed. Even though the number of sudden acceleration complaints were reduced in the 1990s after automakers added mechanisms known as shift-locks (force drivers to press the brake pedal if they want to shift into drive or reverse.), cruise control systems began to be blamed in the mid to late ‘90s for unintended acceleration problems.

Number of complaints to NHTSA about unintended acceleration:

Source: A mid-2001 analysis of NHTSA records for Sudden Acceleration: The Myth of Driver Error, by J. Castelli, C. Nash, C. Ditlow, M. Pecht

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