NHTSA Complaint #11154083 — 2017 AUDI Q7

PRE-SENSE SYTSTEM NEARLY CAUSED ACCIDENT ON TWO OCCASIONS WHERE THERE WAS NO REASON FOR IT TO STOP THE CAR. FIRST TIME WAS AT 75MPH, ON CALIF. 46, 4 LANES DIVIDED, WESTBOUND ABOUT 25 MILES WEST OF I5, LEVEL STRETCH OF ROAD, CLEAR WEATHER, NO VEHICLE AHEAD IN EITHER LANE AND NO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. CAR SUDDENLY CUT FUEL AND BRAKED TO A STOP. I WAS IN RIGHT LANE AND ENDED UP ON SHOULDER. FORTUNATELY, NO TRAFFIC CLOSE BEHIND OR I MIGHT HAVE BEEN REAR-ENDED. AUDI DEALER COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG AND HAD NO EXPLANATION. SYSTEM HAS FOUR SETTINGS: EARLY, MEDIUM, LATE AND OFF. DEALER SET SYSTEM TO "LATE". WHEN I ASKED IF I SHOULD TURN IT OFF, I REALIZED THERE WAS NO WAY DEALER WOULD ADVISE ME TO DO SO BECAUSE OF POTENTIAL LIABILITY. SECOND INCIDENT TWO MONTHS LATER. AT NIGHT, ON VENTURA BLVD. IN SHERMAN OAKS, CA, AT CORNER OF KESTER AVE., WESTBOUND AT NIGHT, PULLED INTO LEFT-TURN LANE. INITIATED LEFT TURN BECAUSE ONCOMING TRAFFIC WAS A VERY SAFE DISTANCE, FAR AWAY. PRE-SENSE SYSTEM ACTIVATED AND STOPPED MY CAR IN THE FIRST LANE OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC. BECAUSE THE NEXT ONCOMING VEHICLE WAS IN THE SECOND (RIGHT) LANE, IT DID NOT IMPACT MY CAR. HAD THAT VEHICLE BEEN IN THE FIRST LANE, I WOULD HAVE BEEN STRUCK AT 35-40MPH BROADSIDE. THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON FOR THE SYSTEM TO STOP THE CAR. I PULLED OVER AFTER COMPLETING THE TURN AND TURNED THE PRE-SENSE SYSTEM "OFF". THIS SYSTEM IS CLEARLY NOT READY FOR DEPLOYMENT IN VEHICLES. RATHER THAN AVOIDING AN ACCIDENT, THE SYSTEM NEARLY CAUSED AN ACCIDENT THE ONLY TWO TIMES IT EVER ACTIVATED ON MY VEHICLE.