A Note on Automobile Cruise Control Faults and Sudden or Unintended Acceleration

by Dr Antony Anderson C.Eng FIEE

• Nov 5 2011 Alleged BMW sudden acceleration incident captured on video in Korea. The video shows the car gaining up speed with the driver swerving through traffic on the highway to avoid crashing for about 20 seconds but in the end, he smashes into another vehicle that had slowed down due to traffic

• March 5 2006 : 1998 BMW 318: A motorist drove for 60 miles at speeds of 135mph after the accelerator on his BMW 318 car jammed and his brakes failed. BBC Five Live interview:: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4796264.stm      March 11 2006Yorkshire Post  - article by  Emma Dunlop
  


• BMW 1996 740 iL Alleged Sudden Acceleration Seminole County, Orlando Florida in August 2000 (State vs Mary Hill)
• November 30th 2004: Mary Hill will not get a new trial
  
• February 2004: Mary Hill found guilty of five counts in fatal accident
• April 28th 2004: Driven to Extremes CBS News 48 Hours  Parts 1 & 2
•  Part I  : http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/27/48hours/main614003.shtml 
• Part II : http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/27/48hours/main614004.shtml

• 3 September 2003 Korean Court dismisses car safety cases On the heels of a series of court rulings in favor of local carmakers sued for liability in regard to cars over-accelerating prior to accidents, the Seoul District Court is following suit in cases involving foreign carmakers.  In all five cases against BMW, Volvo and importers of foreign cars, the district court yesterday dismissed the plaintiffs' claims as groundless, saying there is no convincing evidence to support any link between quick acceleration speeds and the ensuing accidents.[available by subscription]  DEAD LINK: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/09/03/200309030073.asp

• 1998 Recall of 410,000 vehicles from build years 1994-1997   "The cruise control and throttle cables are attached to the same throttle valve actuating lever at the throttle housing. It is possible that the plastic bushing on either cable could break due to environmental influences coupled with vibration. If the bushing breaks, the outer cable housing can separate from the bushing. In this case, during application of the throttle pedal without cruise control being engaged, the outer tube could catch on the edge of the broken bushing. This could cause the throttle valve to remain partially open. It his were to occur, the car might not decelerate as expected  increasing the risk of a vehicle crash."
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