While stopped at a traffic light, foot firmly on brake, 3rd car in line, light changed to green. I STARTED to ease my foot off of brake pedal, when my car lurched forward and began to accelerate. I immediately pushed the brake pedal back down (my foot was still on brake) to try and stop the car from continuing forward. At no time did I have my foot on or near the gas pedal, nor did it slip off the brake pedal. My car continued to accelerate even though I kept pushing down harder on the brake, which then caused it to hit the rear of the 2nd car in front of me that was just starting it's forward movement. The impact pushing it into the car in front of it (1st). Both cars (1st & 2nd) were pushed forward upon impact about 5 - 6 feet. My attempt at braking slowed my car down but the vehicle's forward momentum caused it to hit the car in front of me again, as it had rolled forward and stopped from the original impact. My vehicle speed was approximately 5 MPH at both impacts. The "economy" gas feature of the car was engaged.
The trony of all this is; I was taking the car to a body shop to get an estimate for repair of front end damage from an accident that my wife was involved in that had occured on May 3, 2019, just 4 days earlier. This accident, was also caused by a sudden acceleration with brake pedal pressure applied. The "economy" gas saving feature of the car was engaged in both instances. We were both unaware of, or the underlying causes of these incidents. It was during discussion about the 2 incidents that it was noted of the similarity and nature of the two accidents that prompted further looking into. Had we been aware of the cause of the acceleration, we certainly would have made other arrangements to have the vehicle transported to a repair facility to avoid any additional damage and the possibility of injury to others.
While stopped at a traffic light, foot firmly on brake, 3rd car in line, light changed to green. I STARTED to ease my foot off of brake pedal, when my car lurched forward and began to accelerate. I immediately pushed the brake pedal back down (my foot was still on brake) to try and stop the car from continuing forward. At no time did I have my foot on or near the gas pedal, nor did it slip off the brake pedal. My car continued to accelerate even though I kept pushing down harder on the brake, which then caused it to hit the rear of the 2nd car in front of me that was just starting it's forward movement. The impact pushing it into the car in front of it (1st). Both cars (1st & 2nd) were pushed forward upon impact about 5 - 6 feet. My attempt at braking slowed my car down but the vehicle's forward momentum caused it to hit the car in front of me again, as it had rolled forward and stopped from the original impact. My vehicle speed was approximately 5 MPH at both impacts. The "economy" gas feature of the car was engaged.
The trony of all this is; I was taking the car to a body shop to get an estimate for repair of front end damage from an accident that my wife was involved in that had occured on May 3, 2019, just 4 days earlier. This accident, was also caused by a sudden acceleration with brake pedal pressure applied. The "economy" gas saving feature of the car was engaged in both instances. We were both unaware of, or the underlying causes of these incidents. It was during discussion about the 2 incidents that it was noted of the similarity and nature of the two accidents that prompted further looking into. Had we been aware of the cause of the acceleration, we certainly would have made other arrangements to have the vehicle transported to a repair facility to avoid any additional damage and the possibility of injury to others.
- Raymond U., Elyria, OH, US