SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Electrical shock / short

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20260615-F90C5-2147316708. Severity: No Incident, No Injury. Product: DeWalt 18ASAAU2739 (It a battery powered Dewalt lawnmower.). Incident: Hazard Overview: I am reporting a severe, life-threatening laceration and amputation hazard regarding a DeWalt battery-powered lawnmower. The machine experienced a catastrophic control system failure, resulting in an uncontrollable, high-speed "runaway" state that bypassed all primary safety fail-safes. 1. Complete Speed Control Failure & Extreme Force: The mower self-engaged and accelerated to its absolute maximum drive speed. The machine completely overrode the physical speed dial setting. The self-propel system engaged with such extreme, aggressive torque that it required immense physical strength simply to hold the heavy machine back and prevent it from running loose into the neighborhood. 2. Catastrophic Emergency Stop (Safety Key) Failure: In an attempt to neutralize the runaway machine, I removed the designated safety key. This key is engineered to act as a hard electrical emergency stop. It failed entirely. The motor continued to run at full speed despite the key being removed, forcing me to physically wrestle the screaming, fully-powered mower in order to forcefully rip the FlexVolt batteries out of the deck to kill the power. 3. Grossly Understated Recall Parameters: The manufacturer (MTD Products Stanley Black & Decker) currently has a recall/safety advisory claiming this electrical short only occurs when the unit is "soaking wet" or exposed to heavy water intrusion. This is definitively false. My unit has been stored strictly in a dry, enclosed garage/shed environment with absolutely zero water ingress. 4. Dangerously Inadequate Recall Remedy: Because this catas