NHTSA Complaint #11081932 — 2012 VOLKSWAGEN GTI

CRUISE CONTROL & DISENGAGING FROM THE CRUISE CONTROL BY APPLYING THE BRAKE PEDAL. ON TUESDAY, MARCH 27TH, 2018 I WAS DRIVING SOUTH ON I-15 COMING FROM MESQUITE, NEVADA AND HEADED BACK INTO THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY. AS I PASSED THE EXIT TO TAKE THE GREAT BASIN HIGHWAY WEST TOWARDS THE TOWN OF PIOCHE, NEVADA THERE WAS A LONG SEMI TRUCK IN THE #2 LANE AND I WAS IN THE #1 LANE ON THIS TWO LANE HIGHWAY. THE SEMI TRUCK MADE A LANE CHANGE INTO MY LANE BECAUSE HE WANTED TO GET AROUND THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF HIM, AFTER THE TRUCK CAME INTO MY LANE I HAD TO ADJUST MY SPEED. AT THAT MOMENT, I HAD MY CRUISE CONTROL ON DOING 77 MPH, I APPLIED MY BRAKE PEDAL TO DECREASE MY FOLLOWING DISTANCE NOW THAT THE TRUCK WAS IN FRONT OF ME. AS I APPLIED THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE WASN'T BRAKING AND STARTED TO GO FASTER TOWARDS THE BOTTOM BUMPER OF THE TRUCK. I COULDN'T STOP MY VEHICLE OR MAKE IT SLOW DOWN AND EVENTUALLY ENDED UP RUNNING INTO THE BACK BUMPER OF THE TRUCK. DEBRIS FROM THE IMPACT STARTED FLYING ALL OVER THE ROADWAY AND THEN MY ENGINE HOOD FLEW BACKWARDS AND INTO MY FRONT WINDSHIELD. I THEN TRIED TO SAFELY PULL MY VEHICLE OVER TO THE RIGHT AND ONTO THE SHOULDER . THE ENGINE HOOD CAME BACK FURTHER AND WAS RESTING AGAINST THE FRONT WINDSHIELD WHERE MY VISION WAS TOTALLY BLOCKED. PRIOR TO THAT I SAW THE DRIVER OF THE SEMI MOVING ONTO THE RIGHT SHOULDER, BUT WHEN THE ENGINE HOOD WAS FIRMLY AGAINST THE WINDSHIELD I JUST STOPPED ROLLING FORWARD FOR THE FEAR OF RUNNING INTO THE BACK OF THE TRUCK AGAIN BECAUSE I COULDN'T SEE IF AND WHERE EXACTLY HE STOPPED. IMMEDIATELY AFTER I CAME TO A FULL STOP, I HAD MY PASSENGER MAKE A CALL TO THE NEVADA HIGHWAY PATROL AND GIVE OUR LOCATION AND THE DETAILS OF WHAT OCCURRED. LUCKILY WE WERE SAFE AND ALIVE, ALTHOUGH A BIT SHAKEN.