NHTSA complaint #11446769

Owner complaint summary

I was driving on a 80-mph 3-lane one direction (6 both) toll road, following a Tx State Trooper. About a 1/4 mile ahead of me were two waste disposal trucks. One in the right land and one passing the other in the center lane. The trooper and I pulled into the left lane. As we approached the waste disposal trucks (about 1/8 mile away) my brakes automatically engaged and braked hard for no reason. I tried to override it by depressing the accelerator but the accelerator did not respond (as though it had been disengaged). Behind me was a Mercedes SUV, which had to brake hard to avoid rear ending me. My brakes kept automatically braking (off and on). I finally pulled off the road on the left shoulder and brought the car to a complete stop. It then allowed me to proceed on my way. I bought the car in part for this safety feature, but it clearly is faulty. In reading about braking system, i found that older models had a button that you could use to turn the system off. In my 2022 model, you can turn it off only with multiple steps. You can also adjust the responsiveness of the auto-brake system through a multiple step process. Clearly, this is a major problem that needs to be addressed. I was very lucky that the car behind me braked immediately or it would have rear-ended me at high speed. It was about 5:30 p.m. It was getting dark but not completely dark. I think the problem is with the automatic braking system for forward crash avoidance, but my adaptive cruise control was engaged.