NHTSA Complaint #11193719 — 2012 HYUNDAI ACCENT

ON SATURDAY MARCH 23, 2019 I WAS DRIVING MY 2012 HYUNDAI ACCENT ON THE HIGHWAY. I WAS TRAVELING IN THE LEFT HAND LANE, ON CRUISE CONTROL, GOING ABOUT 73 MPH. A SEMI-TRUCK IN THE RIGHT HAND LAND A FEW HUNDRED YARDS IN FRONT OF ME MOVED OVER INTO MY LANE DUE TO A CONSTRUCTION ZONE AHEAD, SO I ATTEMPTED TO TURN OFF MY CRUISE CONTROL TO SLOW DOWN FOR THE MERGING SEMI-TRUCK. I APPLIED THE BRAKES BUT MY CAR DID NOT TURN OFF CRUISE-CONTROL OR SLOW DOWN, BUT INSTEAD ACCELERATED. I ATTEMPTED AGAIN TO HIT THE BRAKES TO TURN OFF CRUISE CONTROL, BUT AGAIN THE CAR DID NOT SLOW DOWN. I TRIED BOTH THE CANCEL AND THE ON/OFF BUTTONS ON THE STEERING WHEEL, BUT THERE WAS NO WAY TO DISENGAGE CRUISE CONTROL. I WAS QUICKLY APPROACHING THE SEMI-TRUCK AND WAS UNABLE TO SLOW DOWN MY MOVING VEHICLE. IN ORDER TO AVOID REAR-ENDING THE SEMI-TRUCK AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, I WAS FORCED TO VEER LEFT OFF THE HIGHWAY ONTO THE SOFT SHOULDER, AND WAS TRAVELING LOCKED ON CRUISE CONTROL AT 73 MPH HALFWAY ON THE GRASS MEDIAN AND HALFWAY ON THE RUMBLE STRIP OF THE SOFT SHOULDER. THE BRAKES AND STEERING WHEEL SWITCHES WERE STILL NOT WORKING, REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH I APPLIED THE BRAKES OR WHAT COMBINATION I HIT THE SWITCHES. I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO GET MY CAR TO SLOW DOWN BY HITTING THE CLUTCH AND STALLING MY CAR. THIS WAS AN ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC INCIDENT, AND I AM LUCKY TO HAVE BEEN UNINJURED AND TO HAVE AVOIDED WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN A VERY SERIOUS ACCIDENT.