NHTSA Complaint #10583505 — 2010 CHEVROLET IMPALA

WHILE DRIVING NORTHBOUND ON I-75 IN SOUTHERN KY, THE CAR SUDDENLY LURCHED A LITTLE AND "TRACTION CONTROL" AND "STABILIZATION" ERRORS DISPLAYED FOLLOWED BY "REDUCING POWER." AND, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I CALLED MY CHEVY DEALER AND ASKED IF IT WAS SAFE TO CONTINUE DRIVING - THEY SAID YES, AS LONG AS THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WASN'T FLASHING. WE WENT ABOUT 5 - 10 MORE MILES AND THE DISPLAY FLASHED SOMETHING ABOUT THROTTLE PROBLEM AND THEN "SHUTTING DOWN ENGINE", WHICH IT DID IMMEDIATELY WITH NO WARNING WHILE WE WERE DOING ABOUT 70 - 75MPH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 3 NORTHBOUND LANES OF I-75. I HAD TO TRY TO STEER TO THE SHOULDER WITH NO POWER STEERING OR BRAKES. ONCE THERE, I TRIED TO RESTART THE CAR AND NOTHING HAPPENED - IT DISPLAYED "STARTER DISABLED." WE CALLED OUR ROAD SERVICE AND THEY TOOK OUR INFO, FOUND THE NEAREST CHEVY DEALER WHO SAID THEY COULD WORK ON IT ASAP IF WE GOT IT IN THERE. WHILE THEY WERE WORKING ON SETTING UP A TOW I TRIED STARTING IT AGAIN. IT STARTED BUT THE CHECK ENGINE WAS STILL ON. I TRIED DRIVING A LITTLE ALONG THE SHOULDER AND IT SEEMED OK SO I SAID WE'D TRY DRIVING TO THE DEALER RATHER THAN WAIT FOR A TOW TRUCK. WE MADE IT. THEY GOT ON IT FAIRLY QUICKLY AND FOUND THE PROBLEM WAS THE GAS PEDAL POSITION SENSOR. WE WERE FORTUNATE THAT THE TRAFFIC WAS LIGHT AND I COULD SAFELY PULL OFF. I HATE TO THINK WHAT THE RESULTS WOULD HAVE BEEN IF THIS HAD HAPPENED EARLIER AS WE WERE TRAVELING THRU ATLANTA WITH ITS 6 LANES OF HEAVY TRAFFIC. SUDDENLY LOSING POWER AND CONTROL IN THAT TRAFFIC WOULD PROBABLY HAVE CAUSED ONE OF THOSE MULTI-VEHICLE ACCIDENTS THAT MAKE THE NATIONAL NEWS. WHAT KIND OF INCOMPETENT PROGRAMMING OF THE CAR'S COMPUTER WOULD TRIGGER A FULL, INSTANT SHUTDOWN BECAUSE OF A FAULTY ACCELERATOR PEDAL POSITION SENSOR? I WOULD SUGGEST AN IMMEDIATE RECALL TO RE-FLASH THE COMPUTER TO ELIMINATE THE NO-WARNING SHUT DOWN. *TR