Over the past several months, my 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis has suddenly stalled when I begin to accelerate after the car is stopped. It happened 3 times in forward mode and once in reverse. On two occasions, I had gotten several feet into the busy intersection and in one incident, an accident nearly occurred.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

Arrived at son's home and stopped in driveway with foot on brake when vehicle suddenly accelerated uncontrollably, spinning wheels in gravel driveway. Driver swerved to avoid hitting garage and ran head on into a pine tree resulting in severe damage to entire front end of vehicle (expect vehicle to be considered a total loss) and injuries to the driver and two passengers. Both driver and passenger airbags deployed. Prior to arriving at destination, driver had used the cruise control on the vehicle. Vehicle has not yet been moved and am currently waiting for insurance adjuster to inspect vehicle. Both driver and front seat passenger suffered severe bruising on face, arms, chest and abdomen, presumably from deployment of the air bags as well as from the seat belts. Rear seat passenger suffered a contusion on the forehead and a sprained hand. All vehicle occupants were transported to hospital for evaluation and released.

- Durham, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis. In February of 2009, while pulling into a parking space at an unknown speed, the vehicle jumped the curb, raced over the median, and crashed into a tree. There were no injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The technician test drove the vehicle and found no failures. The failure previously occurred on approximately three or four occasions. The failure mileage was 29,000.

- Merritt Island, FL, USA

Car was slowing for red light, stepped on brake, engine oversped, vehicle was uncontrollable, collided with pick up truck ahead, pick up was pushed into a compact car ahead. Air bags did not deploy. Clouds of smoke behind my car and tire marks on roadway confirmed brake pedal, not accelerator, was depressed. Car experienced a slight overspeed on a previous occasion.

- Old Orchard Beach, ME, USA

While parked at the end of her driveway, waiting for oncoming vehicles to bypass, the vehicle automatically accelerated, and made a half turn at 40 miles per hour. The vehicle, as a result, hit a tree. As a result, the windows were damaged, the front seats, where the occupants were seated, while wearing the seat belts, were thrown to the rear portion of the vehicle. She has had the vehicle inspected by her insurance Agency ( safeco) [engineer] ) who stated that this is definitely a result in an ECM manufacturers' defect. As a result, the vehicle is completely damaged. The occupants sustained severe whiplash, and pinched nerves. She can no longer place weight on her feet, which could result in severe back pain. She has had both knees replaced. She and her husband, have not been able to contact the manufacturer as of yet. The failure and current mileage 13,000. The police and ems did come to the scene of the accident were a police report was filed. --ds updated 02-19-08 updated 02/14/08

- Toledo, OH, USA

When vehicle brakes are applied, vehicle begins to accelerate. The vehicle requires extreme pressure in order to have it stop. On one occasion I was forced to pass a stop light. The vehicle has been taken to the dealership on these occasions however dealership is unable to replicate the problem. They have not replaced any parts and are now considering installing a "black box" to record the incident if it occurs in the future and figure out what is causing the problem.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

: the contact stated while backing out of a parking space at 5 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle surged in reverse. The contact shifted into neutral, the engine revved, and the tachometer rose quickly. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer, where the dealer was unable to duplicate or determine the problem. The dealer told the consumer, the incident was due to driver error and when she applied the brake she inadvertently pressed the accelerator as well. Updated 09/11/06.

- Revere, MA, USA

The vehicle was purchased on January 26 2006 new with lees than 100 miles on it. While at a complete stop in a parking place with my right foot on the brake pedal and hand on gear shift to place the car in park in front of a nursing home. Suddenly the car accelerated forward out of control with enough speed in the short distance to go through a wall into a room of the nursing home. Luckily the room in the nursing home was unoccupied. I did suffer an injury to the top and right side of my right foot, when I attempted to pull the accelerator up with my right foot and placing my left foot on the brake pedal. The car did not stop accelerating until the impact into the nursing home. The car was towed to the dealership the same day and the owner of the dealership and service personnel was notified of the possible defect. To this date the dealership has not responded to my concerns.

- Huntsville, AL, USA

This car has a dangerous defect. Randomly when in a stationary position, by holding the brakes, the engine and transmission sometimes suddenly accelerates powerfully, making it difficult to hold the car. I notified the dealer about this defect, several times in writing and by phone. Dec, 29, 2005 they took it on a drive, and claimed to have found no defect. Subsequently, Jan, 15, 2006 at approximately 1:00 pm, I was stopped at a red light on grand St. Nyc behind an SUV, by holding the brakes, all of a sudden it accelerated, and it was impossible to hold the car. It slammed into the SUV in front of me, smashing my front. Luckily, the SUV was not damaged. But even more luckily, we did not get hurt, (I had in the car my wife, an adult daughter, and 2 grand children). In addition, I guess we were extra lucky that we had the SUV in front of me, which averted a catastrophic mowing down of pedestrians crossing. The dealers took in the car, and notified me yesterday, Jan, 19, 2006, that they ran tests and find nothing wrong with the car.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

On three occasions when shifting from park to reverse the engine sped up (accelerated drastically) causing the wheels to spin and only by quick application of the brake was an incident avoided. I drove into a parking space, put the car in park, then not satisfied with the position I attempted to back up, that's when the car accelerated.

- Baton Rouge, LA, USA

The consumer stated that the accelerator stuck three times. The owner was backing out of the driveway and went to give the car gas and the accelerator stuck. The driver ended up in a ditch. This happened while driving at low speeds at 25 mph. The car is at the dealership to be inspected. The dealer could not identify the cause of the problem. This has not been reported to the manufacturer. A police report was taken.

- East Grand Rapids, MI, USA

Consumer states that he rented a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis which he backed into the driveway, and put the vehicle into drive from reverse the vehicle accelerated across street, through a neighbor's lawn and through a hedge into a neighbor's car. There was a police report filed. The investigating officers thought it was a mechanical malfunction. Consumer was not cited for this incident. Hertz rental had vehicle towed to the service center.

- Pensacola, FL, USA