I was driving approximately 25 mph getting onto the highway when all of a sudden my brakes seemed to lock up. My vehicle jerked violently and I heard this awful grinding noise. I was narrowly missed by the vehicle behind me as the jerk slammed my vehicle to a halt and turned my wheels causing my steering wheel to jerk as well. I was able to pull off to the side of the road and sat there for a while and once again tried to proceed ahead and almost immediately the same incident happened. I called a tow truck and had the vehicle towed to a Mercedes dealer who kept the vehicle for three days and could not recreate the issue however they stated that the yaw sensor came up as faulty during the diagnostic. I went to pick up the vehicle and as the tech drove it up it again started jerking. $1000 later the yaw sensor has been replaced but I feel like this issue is definitely a safety hazard. I am just thankful that my 18 month old son wasn't in the car with me at the time as had he been and someone hit us from behind because of the abrupt stop, he surely would have been injured. This needs to be looked into immediately and recalled as it is a safety issue. I believe that Mercedes should deem this a recall, fixing the issue for those out there who have not yet experienced it and reimbursing those of us who have had to spend $1000 replacing what is supposed to be a system put in place for safety.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

While driving in heavy traffic at 45mph, the brakes automatically engaged and the electronic stability program and yaw rate sensor failed. I was narrowly able to avoid a serious accident. After searching many online Mercedes forums, this seems to be a recurring problem for 2000-2001 ml models and is related to NHTSA campaign PE07007 that was closed in 2007. However, the problem seems to be occurring more and more frequently now and grounds for a recall. The car is not safe to drive until fixed.

- New York, NY, USA

I was driving straight on an interstate highway at 70mph with my foot on the gas pedal. All of a sudden the vehicle started to totally apply the brakes all by itself and lunged to a stop. The car behind me barely missed hitting the rear of my vehicle. I turned off the engine and restarted and and was able to drive to the side of the highway. Fearful to continue driving, I then called a tow service to take my vehicle to the nearest dealership. A few days later, they called me and said one of the sensors for the ABS/esp system had failed (yaw rate sensor - dtc C1120) and caused the problem. The repair cost would be about $900. I could not believe that a component of a so called safety system could fail rendering the system so that it can in itself cause an extremely dangerous situation. Fortunately in my case there were no injuries but different circumstances could have been just the opposite. The ase master certified technition who takes care of my car stated that this was a known type of failure (defect) of my model Mercedes. Mercedes Benz refused to cover this repair for me and does not have a solution to prevent this from happenning again on my vehicle or any of the other thousands that they have sold. We all put faith in these safety system that Mercedes manufactures but once the warranty expires we all are forced to live with the concequences of defective designs. I was told that when a component in a safety system fails the system is supposed to turn on a warning light and turn it self off. Not like in my case the failed sensor caused the ABS/esp system to randomly turn on the brakes. With all of the crazy computerized systems in the modern cars I am now nervous about blindly trusting them with my life.

- Warrenton, VA, USA

My dad was driving the car and we had just come to a stop at an intersection. When the light turned green, he accelerated and just as we crossed the intersection, the brakes locked up. I thought my dad had slammed on the brakes, but he had his foot on the gas pedal. It was as if the car had a mind of its own and started to brake on its own volition---even though we didn't want it to. There was a loud screeching sound and a few seconds later you can smell the stench of burning rubber. Thankfully, the car behind us was not tailgating or that person would have run straight into us! my father then let go of the gas pedal and stepped on the brake to decelerate until the car came to a complete stop. We then saw that two indicators were lit on the dashboard: A yellow triangle with an exclamation mark and a yellow square with the letters bas/esp in it. He then shifted to "park" and turned off the ignition. We waited for about five seconds before starting up the car again. Both of the indicators (yellow triangle and the bas/esp square) were no longer lit and my father slowly accelerated the car (about 10-15 mph). The brakes did not lock up and we cautiously drove home. We'll be taking this car to the mechanic today and hopefully we can find the root of this problem. Nonetheless, I feel the need to file this complaint because I sincerely do not believe that a car can brake on its own while someone is driving it. I would be more understanding if this was google's autonomous car, but unfortunately this is not the case. There is something inherently and flagrantly wrong with a car that can brake without the driver telling it to.

- Diamond Bar, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Mercedes ML320. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the esp and bas warning light illuminated and then the ABS and the traction light illuminated. The contact mentioned that the brakes engaged independently. The failure recurred numerous times. The contact stated he believed it is a faulty yaw rate sensor. The dealer was notified and a diagnosis was pending. The manufacturer was notified and an investigation was pending. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 114,970 and the current mileage was 115,000.

- Coral Gables, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Mercedes-Benz ML320. The contact was traveling 40-45 mph when the steering wheel and brakes began to vibrate abnormally. The contact had not engaged the brakes. The contact also stated that later that day, the brakes failed while being depressed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not contacted and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 35,000 and the current mileage was unknown.

- Gray, GA, USA