In July 2009 I purchased a slightly used 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis. On many occasions while driving I have applied the brakes only to feel the car accelerate without warning. I have not had any accidents, but I feel that it is just a matter of time.... the problem resides in the close proximity of the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal. My car has auto-adjust pedal height, but unfortunately both pedals adjust as a single unit, rather than one-at-A-time. Simply, the accelerator pedal is too far to the left - about two inches from the rhs edge of the brake pedal, and when I depress the brake pedal, often the right-hand edge of the sole of my shoe contacts the surface of the accelerator pedal, leading to the surge of power -- which is the problem. This is made worse in that when the brake is applied, the pedal will pass to and through the plane of the surface of the accelerator pedal, thus making this shoe-contact more likely. There is abundant room to move the accelerator pedal to the right - with a newly-designed pedal shaft. (the present pedal "hooks" to the left at the bottom part, sort of like the lower part of this "9" digit) or, the pedals could be raised up/lowered independently, in order to increase the vertical distance between them. A thicker rubber pad on the brake pedal would accomplish this handily -- it would need to be about one inch thicker. I am very concerned about this. I contacted Ford Motor Company about this problem within a short time of buying the car. I have contacted them several times, including today, but so far they have been unresponsive. (but of course today's conversation may bear fruit. We shall see.) in the notes of my first call, according to the person who read them to me on a subsequent call, my concern was described as "... owner needs to know the location of the accelerator and brake pedals..." or words such as those!

- Orem, UT, USA