NHTSA Complaint #11414060 — 2016 HONDA CR-V

I BELIEVE A SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION ISSUE CAUSED AN ACCIDENT WITH MY 2016 HONDA CR-V AS I WAS DRIVING TO WORK ON DECEMBER 12, 2019. AT THAT TIME, I HAD BEEN DRIVING FOR OVER 36 YEARS BOTH ON MAUI AND AS AN AIR FORCE OFFICER IN THE CONUS. IN ALL THAT TIME, I HAD NEVER DRIVEN RECKLESSLY OR EVEN SPED AS IS EVIDENCED BY MY DRIVING RECORD. THAT MORNING, MY VEHICLE HAD REPORTEDLY BEEN DRIVING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED AND ENDED UP FLIPPING OVER SEVERAL TIMES LEADING TO MY HOSPITALIZATION AND SURGERY FOR SPINAL FUSION. UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO THE RESULTING CONCUSSION, I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING FROM THE MORNING OF THE INCIDENT UNTIL WAKING UP IN THE ICU AFTER SURGERY, NOT EVEN DRIVING TO WORK. KNOWING THAT I WOULD NEVER PURPOSELY SPEED, I HIRED SOMEONE TO DOWNLOAD THE BLACK BOX DATA. TO MY SHOCK, IT SHOWED CONSTANT ACCELERATION, NO STEERING INPUTS, AND NO BRAKING INPUTS FOR AT LEAST FIVE SECONDS. THE ONLY REASON I'VE DECIDED TO PUT THIS OUT THERE NOW IS DUE TO THE PARALLELS I'VE READ ABOUT WITH TIGER WOODS' RECENT ACCIDENT. I DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE WHO HAS DRIVEN FOR DECADES WOULD EVER MISTAKE THE ACCELERATOR FOR THE BRAKE PEDAL. MOREOVER, IF THEY DID, THEIR INSTINCT WOULD BE TO QUICKLY RELEASE THE ACCELERATOR THEN BRAKE, DEFINITELY NOT TO CONTINUE TO FLOOR IT FOR SEVERAL SECONDS. I'M NOT EXPECTING TO GET ANYTHING PERSONALLY OUT OF THIS COMPLAINT. MY MAIN HOPE IS THAT INVESTIGATION WILL BE DONE TO PREVENT FURTHER INJURIES AND DEATHS. PLEASE INVESTIGATE TO SEE IF MANY OTHER BLACK BOX REPORTS FROM SIMILAR ACCIDENTS SHOW ACCELERATOR FLOORED WITH NO BRAKING OR STEERING INPUTS FOR SEVERAL SECONDS. PERHAPS THERE IS SOME COMBINATION OF INPUTS CAUSING WRONG SIGNALS TO BE SENT TO THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE. I BELIEVE THE REASON THERE AREN'T MANY MORE REPORTS OF THIS IS DUE TO THE UNFORTUNATE FACT THAT IN MOST CASES, THE DRIVER ENDS UP EITHER DEAD OR HAVING A CONCUSSION.