NHTSA Complaint #10542855 — 2001 PONTIAC GRAND AM

ON MY WAY TO WORK (2ND SHIFT) IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC AS I WAS PREPARING TO MERGE ONTO THE HIGHWAY THE CAR SIMPLY SHUT-OFF BLOCKING TRAFFIC. (I WAS EVENTUALLY - 20 MINUTES - ABLE TO GET HELP TO PUSH THE CAR OFF THE ROAD.) EVERYTHING SHUT OFF AND CAR WOULD NOT RESTART....EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE POWER-STEERING. THIS HAS HAPPENED ONE OTHER TIME AND THE VEHICLE IS NOW NOTHING MORE THEN A TWO-TON PAPERWEIGHT IN MY GARAGE - AND ABOUT AS USEFUL. ON A SECOND OCCASION IT CUT-OFF AS I PULLED INTO TRAFFIC AND ALMOST CAUSED A COLLISION...FORTUNATELY I WAS ABLE TO COAST FAR ENOUGH TO GET INTO THE TURN LANE AND THEN WHEN TRAFFIC CLEARED TO PUSH IT BACK OFF THE ROAD. AN ONLINE SEARCH TOLD ME THIS IS A WELL-KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE SECURITY SYSTEM OF THE VEHICLE BUT THERE SEEMS NO AGREEMENT ON A SOLUTION/FIX. EVIDENTLY THE SECURITY SYSTEM SIMPLY DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE KEY (EVEN WHEN IT IS THE CORRECT ONE) AND THINKS THE CAR IS BEING STOLEN AND THUS SHUTS ITSELF OFF. WHAT WOULD/COULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THIS OCCURRED WHILE I WAS AT SPEED IN TRAFFIC? IF PONTIAC KNOWS ABOUT THIS WHY IS THERE NO RECALL....DOES SOMEONE HAVE TO DIE FIRST? *TR