On May 22, 2009, I backed my 2000 Toyota Avalon into a parking area next to a short private road located about halfway down a high cliff above a beach. After getting out of the car, I decided to move it about a foot further off the road. So I backed up very slowly until the bumper just touched the cliff behind me. I braked, the car stopped, and then I stepped very lightly on the gas pedal, intending to brake immediately after moving forward a few inches. To my horror, the car shot forward rapidly, and I was unable to stop it, no matter how hard I pumped the brake pedal. I somehow managed to turn it to the left and thus avoided plunging over the cliff below me. The car continued to accelerate, fish-tailing up a slight grade. Then it hit a parked car and turned upside-down on the road. I suffered broken vertebrae in my back and neck and had to be hospitalized for 12 days and wear a head-neck brace for two months. The car was totaled.

- Gig Harbor, WA, USA