NHTSA Complaint #11716373 — 2024 FORD MUSTANG MACH E

While picking up my daughter from school this week, I entered a school parking lot and began a low-speed right turn to pull into a parking space. During this maneuver, the car unexpectedly and abruptly accelerated forward. I reacted immediately and applied the brakes, but the car traveled approximately two car lengths beyond the intended parking spot. I came to a stop across two parking spaces. This occurred in an active school pickup area with parents and children nearby. There were no cars or pedestrians directly in front of me at that moment. I still fear what the outcome might have been if anyone had been present. Immediately after stopping, I observed that the adaptive cruise control speed indicator on the instrument cluster was set to 15 and was crossed out, indicating it had recently been active and disengaged. However, I did not engage adaptive cruise control during that trip. Based on the car’s behavior and the display state, my best assessment is that adaptive cruise control was unintentionally engaged during the parking maneuver causing the car to attempt to accelerate toward a previously set cruise speed despite being in a low-speed, turning scenario. Again, I did not use ACC on this trip. A sudden acceleration in a school parking lot presents an extreme hazard. The only reason this incident did not result in injury or death was immediate braking and luck. There were no warning lamps or messages prior to the incident. The car has not yet been inspected by a dealer or manufacturer. I am aware of multiple publicly shared videos from other Mach-E owners documenting similar incidents, some resulting in crashes. This appears to be a systemic adaptive cruise control design or software issue that warrants immediate investigation and correction to avoid serious injury or death.