Steering is hard to turn. Over heats and will not keep coolinat down

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Was driving truck at highway, when brakes activated by itself, ABS, traction light, brake lamp and hazards flashed. Had to immediately move to side of road, while brakes where activating. Felt as if ABS was activating as if I was sliding on and icy road. Had to have vehicle towed as I was not able to move more that 5 feet

- Shakopee, MN, USA

I was on the freeway, I was using my cruise control (luckily just after heavy traffic hours) just like any other day. A car slowed in front of me, so I went to apply my brakes. As soon as I hit the brake pedal the brakes not only did not disengage the cruise control but the brakes got stiff and would not work no matter how hard I pressed them. At the same time the accelerator was floored and the car was trying to go what seems like 130-140 mph. It took all my strength to try and keep it at an appropriate speed. Luckily my passenger told me to stay calm and tried to help me disengage the cruise control. I had to maneuver the car to the slowest lane and shift it into neutral. That was the only option I had besides crashing into the car in front of me. I am extremely shaken from this event, I have anxiety/panic attacks whenever I drive any vehicle now. I am currently looking for a physician to help me work out some kind of treatment/therapy.

- Loomis, CA, USA

While driving around 50mph on the bqe road (NY), suddenly the bas/esp light came on, all the brakes engaged and car was coming to a stop. Warning light on a dashboard was flashing and at first I thought the engine died. Not realizing what is happening, I tried to add power/gas to the car, but the engine didn't want to go past 1000 RPM. Being in a fast lane and having hard time controlling the movement of the car, I"?ve noticed overpowering smell of the brakes. I was absolutely shocked by the event as the traffic was heavy and I was just hoping no one will rear me. Stepping on the gas pedal had almost no result even though the motor was running. It then started to accelerate very slowly when my foot was pressing the gas pedal all the way to the floor of the car. Some 5-10 minutes later, the car started to accelerate and behaving as nothing has happened. However, 15 minutes into the ride, the same thing happened and this time, I was driving in a slow lane - some 30-35 mph. I pulled over and let the car rest for about 5 minutes and it stared fine and drove fine for the rest of the evening. Once I parked the car, the bas esp light was still on and stayed on. I took the car very next day to a car mechanic, but the computer reading didn?"T give any errors, faults nor notifications. By that time, the esp light was off once again. The incident recurred 3 days later while coming to a stop due to a traffic lights - some 15-20 mph. My mechanic (and my internet search) advised me to change the yaw sensor. I fully understand the sensor can become faulty, but fully engaging the brakes while traveling is extremely dangerous. I'm now waiting for the yaw sensor to be replaced.

- Astoria, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2000 Mercedes Benz ML320. The contact was driving approximately 55 mph with the cruise control in activation. When pressure was applied to the brake pedal, the cruise control failed to disengage. Suddenly the brakes locked and the vehicle continued to accelerate. The gear was shifted into neutral and then into park, which brought the vehicle to a stop. The contact resumed in operation with caution. There was a recall associated with the failure under NHTSA campaign id number: 11V208000 (vehicle speed control: Cruise control). The recall part was unavailable to perform the remedy repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 138,000.

- Laurel, MD, USA

I am the owner if a 2000 Mercedes ML320. This morning as I came home on this car and suddenly it sped up and lost control when it came to the driveway. I leg was on the brake when I came to the driveway no way I could have put my leg on the accelerator. I believe there is a defect in its design and cause it to suddenly speed up. Please look into this since it can be a serious matter. My other 2 cars in the garage were badly damaged in addition to the this ML320.

- Fremont, CA, USA

I was driving up hill in slow traffic for about 5 to 10 miles per hour for a few miles then all the sudden learned car did not respond to the gas pedal I put pressure on. The car jerk a little bid and won't move much only by the inches. Then I had to pull off the road. I turned off the engine and waited for few minutes and started again, turned around and cancelled my trip. A similar instance happened once before several years ago. I took the car to the dealer and they found nothing wrong.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

While traveling with my family (wife and 2 kids) on the freeway returning from an family outing. We were traveling approximately 65 mph on the freeway when all the sudden without any warning the cars brakes are activated and the car pulls to the right, fortunately there was no car on the right lane next to me. The car braking on its own did not stop until the car came to a complete stop. After removing our hearts from our throats and changing our soiled undergarments we decided to head straight home 45 miles away. This same thing occurred about 3 times during our trip back home. I will be more than happy to allow dot inspectors to drive the car to assist your investigation. (I recommend you bring a change of underwear.).

- Canoga Park, CA, USA

Caller has had vehicle in 6 times for check engine light/spark plugs being corroded/loose wheel bearing/control module went out/for shaking and sputtering at idle, and the electric function check. Manufacturer has not been contacted yet.

- Lanchester, PA, USA

Vehicle engaged from park to drive, and then into reverse and accelerated and crashed into a tree. The dealer was notified, and stated it was a human error. The vehicle was in park, then placed in reverse, backed up a couple of feet, and then the consumer placed the vehicle in drive to go forward to straighten out in order to back out of the driveway more easily. The vehicle had gone into reverse, accelerated at a tremendous speed and had gone down the driveway out of control, veered right onto the lawn and hit the tree. The gear shift was still in drive when the vehicle stopped on impact.

- Dix Hills, NY, USA

Mercedes model ML320 was parked in driveway; upon switching to reverse, sudden unitentional acceleration rafter sua, driver unable to control vehicle; crashed rear of car into tree across the street.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA