NHTSA Complaint #11617624 — 2023 VOLKSWAGEN ID.4

On 9/17/2024 roughly at 10:00PM, while in the drive-thru picking up food, my Volkswagen ID.4 suddenly self-accelerated out of nowhere as I was slowly driving towards the window to pay for food. I was completely shocked—I’ve never experienced anything like this. I tried to react quickly, but the car surged forward and slammed into a large cement light post. The impact was hard, and the car is now severely damaged. What really shook me was that none of the safety features I’ve come to rely on worked—there was no automatic braking, late front collision warning, and despite the heavy impact, none of the airbags deployed. I ended up feeling all bruised and now have some severe mid-back pain. The thought that I could have easily been hurt more seriously, or worse, could have harmed someone else if this had happened in a crowded area, is traumatizing. This has made me completely lose trust in the vehicle’s safety systems. If the car can do this in such a low-risk situation, I can’t imagine what might happen in a more dangerous scenario. I brought up other safety concerns to Volkswagen that were completely dismissed.