NHTSA Complaint #10628151 — 2014 JEEP WRANGLER

WAS TRAVELING IN OUR 3 WEEK OLD 2014 JEEP WRANGLER 2 DOOR AUTOMATIC IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. HEADING WEST ON A REMOTE TWO LANE HIGHWAY IN APPROX. 84 DEGREE DRY CONDITIONS. SPEED LIMIT IN THIS AREA IS 55. I CAME UPON A FARM TRUCK WHO WAS TRAVELING AT APPROX. 45-50 MPH. WHEN CONDITIONS WERE SAFE, I PULLED INTO THE ONCOMING LANE AND PROCEEDED TO ACCELERATE VERY HARD TO PASS THE FARM VEHICLE IN A SAFE DISTANCE. THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS ON BUT WAS CURRENTLY NOT IN USE. AS I WAS ALMOST AROUND THE FARM VEHICLE I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE GAS BUT THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE AT FULL THROTTLE. I FIRST VIEWED THE ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO SEE IF IT WAS CLEAR WHILE AT THE SAME TIME I STOMPED ON THE BRAKE. I ALSO TURNED THE CRUISE CONTROL COMPLETELY OFF. AN ERROR MESSAGE FLASHED ON THE DASH HOWEVER DUE TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES I DID NOT SEE WHAT IT INDICATED. THE BRAKING HELPED BUT AS SOON AS I TOOK THE FOOT OFF THE BRAKE IT CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE AT FULL THROTTLE. I WOULD ESTIMATE THAT THE JEEP REACHED A SPEED OF 100 WHEN THIS HAPPENED. I THEN PREPARED TO PLACE THE VEHICLE IN NEUTRAL BUT FIRST REACHED AND GRABBED THE FLOOR MAT AND YANKED IT AS HARD AS I COULD TO PULL IT AWAY FROM THE GAS PEDAL AS I WAS STILL UNSURE OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING. THE ISSUE FELT MORE LIKE AN ELECTRONIC ISSUE THEN A GAS PEDAL CAUGHT ON A FLOOR MAT. HOWEVER THIS DID SEEM TO STOP THE SUDDEN ACCELERATION. ONCE HOME I VERIFIED THAT I COULD NOT SEE IN ANY WAY HOW THE FLOOR MAT WOULD HOLD DOWN THE GAS PEDAL AS THE GAS PEDAL SNAPS BACK WITH QUITE A BIT OF FORCE WHEN PUSHING THE FLOOR MAT IN FRONT OF THE PEDAL. THIS VERY WELL MAY HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY THE FLOOR MAT HOWEVER I WOULD LIKE TO DOCUMENT WHAT HAPPENED. *TR