NHTSA Complaint #11638175 — 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS

My car, a 2010 Toyota Prius, Level V has about 161,000 miles on it, and I have driven about 140K of those miles over the last 13 years. I have traveled around the DC/Maryland area and also taken the car on long trips. The car has been reliable, safe, and predictable... EXCEPT in one place/instance. I have probably driven a dozen times or more to the BWI airport from my home in Chevy Chase. On the return drive on [XXX], as I drive towards an overpass that is just before the [XXX] exit, my Prius goes into "Emergency Approaching Collision" mode. The brakes automatically forcibly apply, the seatbelt/lap harness grab me, and there is an emergency beeping from the system. The first time this happened... probably 10 years ago, it was very startling. My car was traveling about 60-65 mph. Luckily, there were no cars behind me... and I remained calm enough not to overreact. I was so startled that I needed to pull over to regain my composure. In one of the numerous other cases on this happening, my wife was in the car and she basically wanted me to sell the car because she felt it was unsafe. Because I am aware of the situation with my car, I always am cautious when I am driving towards the [XXX] exit. I drive slower, watch carefully for surrounding vehicles beside or behind me. But even yesterday, I was driving very slowly (approximately 35 mph). While I did not feel the system take aggressive avoidance/safety actions, still the warning beeps did take place... a little unnerving, but I had come to expect a problem at that site. In any event, I did want to bring the matter to your agency. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)