My son was driving our 2002 Nissan Pathfinder on Friday. He was on his way to work with a friend he works with. He was less than a mile from home when the car started accelerating on its own! He tried braking and pumping the gas pedal, and the acceleration stopped momentarily. A few seconds later it started again. He was going about 40 mph and braking did little to slow him down. He should have tried putting the car in neutral, but didn't. He was scared and coming up on a busy traffic circle. He put everything he could into stepping on his brakes and was able to slow a little....to maybe 30+mph. With the traffic circle less than 100 feet away he threw the transmission into park and the car seized and stopped. They were very fortunate not to have been injured...or worse. He tried starting it again, but the engine was revving so much that he thought it might explode. He turned it off and called me. When I got there, I tried starting the car, but the key wouldn't even turn and the transmission wouldn't move from "park." What in the world would cause this? Does anyone know of a recall on this issue? My son, who's 20, is still shaking from this very dangerous episode. Any insight anyone has into this would be greatly appreciated.

took foot off the gas pedal, car wouldn't slow down

t was exiting the freeway and after removing my foot from the accelerator I noticed the vehicle was not slowing down. I pressed on the brakes and was able to slow the car, luckily the light ahead was green so I went through and was able to go up the approaching hill without pressing the accelerator. I had to press the brakes as hard as possible to come to a stop where the RPM's registered 4000. After turning the vehicle off I started it again and the engine raced so I shut it down. Will have to tow it to a mechanic. This is very dangerous.