NHTSA Complaint #10825212 — 2015 SUBARU OUTBACK

CRUISE CONTROL (CC) CAUSED WHAT I THOUGHT AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. OPERATION OF CC IS DIFFERENT FROM ANY CC I USED IN THE PAST. THE CC WAS ALREADY ENGAGED AND I WAS GOING ABOUT 40 MPH ON A HIGHWAY. I DECIDED TO INCREASE MY SPEED, SO I PRESSED THE 'SET +' BUTTON. AFTER A COUPLE OF SECONDS WHEN I REACHED 43 MPH, I RELEASED THE BUTTON. THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE TO 70 MPH. LUCKILY THE HIGHWAY WAS EMPTY AND I WAS ABLE TO DISENGAGE THE CC. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE CC 'SET +' (AND 'SET -') HAS 2 POSITIONS - PUSHING IT HALF WAY INCREASES YOUR SPEED LIKE A TRADITIONAL CC, AND PUSHING IT ALL THE WAY ACTUALLY INCREASES THE SET SPEED OF YOUR CC BY 5 MPH INCREMENTS. HENCE WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS JUST ACCELERATING TO 43 MPH, I WAS ACTUALLY SETTING THE CC SPEED TO 70 MPH. ONE OF THE OPTION PACKAGES WITH THE CAR ADDS THIS 5 MPH INCREMENT 'FEATURE'. THE QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE AND THE REGULAR MANUAL DO NOT MENTION THIS 'FEATURE' - IT IS ONLY MENTIONED IN ONE OF THE AUXILIARY MANUALS FOR THE OPTION PACKAGE. I THINK UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES THAT THIS INCIDENT COULD HAVE TURNED OUT MUCH WORSE THAN IT DID. THE CC DOES NOT WORK LIKE TRADITIONAL CC, AND THE CONTROLS LOOK LIKE A TRADITIONAL CC.