Car unexpectedly accelerated. Next steps?
May 23, 2024 5:25 AM Subscribe
This morning while turning into a space in a public garage, my car suddenly accelerated. I smashed into the concrete curb at the end of the space, damaging the front end of my car and damaging the curb. What are my next steps?
My car is a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV. I was driving in single-pedal mode, which is what I usually do. I was turning around a corner and into a parking space, sort of a hair pin turn, moving at very slow speed. Suddenly the car jumped, and before I could do anything else it smashed into the curb.
It is possible that I accidentally tapped the accelerator instead of the brake. I don't think that's what happened, but it is possible. The speed with which the car jumped forward was shocking. It would have been more than a little tap. This seems like the most likely explanation, but at the time I did not think that's what happened and I had no perception of pressing the wrong pedal. It felt like the car suddenly accelerated on its own. It's morning, I'm fully caffeinated, and was alert when this happened.
My question is: what are my next steps here? My car will need some repairs, but I am inclined to pay for that out of pocket and not say anything to my insurance company.
But should I report the possible accidental acceleration to some government agency, in case it turns out there is a defect in the design of the car? If so, how would I do that?
And should I have my car checked out at the dealership, to inspect the accelerator and brake pedals? That would be a pain but it feels like the responsible thing to do.
No one was hurt, and the damage to the car was isolated, so in the scheme of things it is no big deal. But it feels like something I should take seriously to make sure there aren't knock-on consequences.
My car is a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV. I was driving in single-pedal mode, which is what I usually do. I was turning around a corner and into a parking space, sort of a hair pin turn, moving at very slow speed. Suddenly the car jumped, and before I could do anything else it smashed into the curb.
It is possible that I accidentally tapped the accelerator instead of the brake. I don't think that's what happened, but it is possible. The speed with which the car jumped forward was shocking. It would have been more than a little tap. This seems like the most likely explanation, but at the time I did not think that's what happened and I had no perception of pressing the wrong pedal. It felt like the car suddenly accelerated on its own. It's morning, I'm fully caffeinated, and was alert when this happened.
My question is: what are my next steps here? My car will need some repairs, but I am inclined to pay for that out of pocket and not say anything to my insurance company.
But should I report the possible accidental acceleration to some government agency, in case it turns out there is a defect in the design of the car? If so, how would I do that?
And should I have my car checked out at the dealership, to inspect the accelerator and brake pedals? That would be a pain but it feels like the responsible thing to do.
No one was hurt, and the damage to the car was isolated, so in the scheme of things it is no big deal. But it feels like something I should take seriously to make sure there aren't knock-on consequences.
I'm sorry this happened to you. AFAIK, all "drive by wire" type vehicles, including evs and hybrids use redundant sensors on the accelerator pedal. The sensors work in opposite directions (i.e. one outputs more voltage the further you depress the accellerator and the other sensor outputs max voltage when you aren't depressing the acellerator at all, and the voltage decreases as you press the pedal further) The outputs of these sensors are cross checked and if there's a discrepancy, the car's computer will default to zero throttle and also set a warning light. Nothing is impossible, but pedal confusion is the most likely scenario. Unless you have an out of place flootmat or something that could have physically depressed the pedal.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 5:56 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 5:56 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]
That sounds scary! Here's someone discussing a similar problem. And yes there are more similar accounts. I had never heard of these single pedal modes and frankly, they sound terrifying and I am somewhat surprised they are legal. I get the appeal for increased efficiency but usually we require testing a driver's ability to operate the machinery safely before licensing them to drive it on public roads. And here, Chevy just tells you to "practice in a parking lot".
Anyway, please report this to the NHTSA (I am assuming you are in the US but please update if you are not). You don't need to be certain it was a malfunction. All that matters is " you experienced a vehicle, tire, car seat, or equipment safety problem that could be a safety defect"
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:16 AM on May 23 [5 favorites]
Anyway, please report this to the NHTSA (I am assuming you are in the US but please update if you are not). You don't need to be certain it was a malfunction. All that matters is " you experienced a vehicle, tire, car seat, or equipment safety problem that could be a safety defect"
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:16 AM on May 23 [5 favorites]
And should I have my car checked out at the dealership, to inspect the accelerator and brake pedals? That would be a pain but it feels like the responsible thing to do.
Your instincts are correct. It would be grossly irresponsible if you did not do this, especially if the car does it again and someone really gets hurt.
posted by corey flood at 6:59 AM on May 23 [5 favorites]
Your instincts are correct. It would be grossly irresponsible if you did not do this, especially if the car does it again and someone really gets hurt.
posted by corey flood at 6:59 AM on May 23 [5 favorites]
Yeah, there are definitely other people on the internet talking about very similar things--I believe this was likely not the result of "user error." Here's a Reddit thread from about half a year ago. Please report both to your dealer and thhe NHTSA.
posted by pullayup at 7:08 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]
posted by pullayup at 7:08 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]
Feel free to report, but people confuse the pedals and crash into buildings every day. it's extremely common. According to stats, over 100 crashes into buildings every day, with 2600 deaths per year. And these are just the ones that are into buildings - into parking blocks, garages, etc - total is probably triple or higher.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:17 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:17 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]
Get it checked out and report it! Even if you did depress the wrong pedal, if an unusual number of people are hitting the gas instead of the brake in the same model of car, it usually means there's a design issue that is making that more likely to happen.
posted by mskyle at 7:25 AM on May 23 [6 favorites]
posted by mskyle at 7:25 AM on May 23 [6 favorites]
I’d report it to the insurance, the building may come after you to repair the curb. Front end repairs can also be really expensive. As everyone else says, get the pedals checked.
posted by shock muppet at 7:39 AM on May 23
posted by shock muppet at 7:39 AM on May 23
Muscle memory presses the brake harder than you would feather the accelerator, so many of these instances are because you're pressing the accel. as hard as you think you're pressing the brake. And then when you think your foot is already on the brake and the car jumps forward, then you press the pedal even harder and compound the problem.
This has been an issue long before throttle-by-wire, check out the 60 Minutes and Audi 5000 history.
posted by Huggiesbear at 8:32 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]
This has been an issue long before throttle-by-wire, check out the 60 Minutes and Audi 5000 history.
posted by Huggiesbear at 8:32 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]
I wonder if Chevy regrets naming this car "Bolt..."
posted by Don Pepino at 9:27 AM on May 23 [3 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 9:27 AM on May 23 [3 favorites]
one of the forums explicitly mentions "one-pedal driving doesn't act the way you expect if your seatbelt is unbuckled." I know that I have unbuckled my seatbelt to get access cards for garages/parking decks/campuses, and I (a non-Bolt driver) would be very surprised to find that the driver's seatbelt being buckled/unbuckled toggled the driving experience in such a fundamental way.... But that's conceivably the kind of "design issue" people are mentioning upstream.
(FWIW, i'm also on team "don't bother insurance with it/fix it out of pocket" and "i'm glad nobody was hurt")
posted by adekllny at 10:31 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]
(FWIW, i'm also on team "don't bother insurance with it/fix it out of pocket" and "i'm glad nobody was hurt")
posted by adekllny at 10:31 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]
Huggiesbear has a good point about how we instinctively press one pedal harder than the other.
As a longtime EV driver, the other thing I'll add is how lack of regen feels like acceleration. In over a decade of driving electric, it's only happened to me a few times, but when it does it's jarring. What happens is you are expecting regen to kick in, and it doesn't, and THAT feels like acceleration! Example 1: you lift of accel pedal, expecting regen, but it doesn't kick in because you don't have the gear selector in the right spot (or steering wheel paddle control, or whatever). Example 2: you are already off the accel pedal and in regen braking, when the car hits a big bump in the road and the regen stops for a second. In both cases, the car is only coasting, damn it if it doesn't feel like accel! Early EVs were worse at this than newer models. (related: ask me someday how I broke my EV's axle once)
But most likely your feet hit the wrong pedal. And applying "brake pedal" behavior to the accel pedal can totally rocket you forward. I mean, that thrilling accel is why I drive EVs :) But not in a parking deck ...
Anyway, I'd go ahead and report it as described above.
posted by intermod at 11:11 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]
As a longtime EV driver, the other thing I'll add is how lack of regen feels like acceleration. In over a decade of driving electric, it's only happened to me a few times, but when it does it's jarring. What happens is you are expecting regen to kick in, and it doesn't, and THAT feels like acceleration! Example 1: you lift of accel pedal, expecting regen, but it doesn't kick in because you don't have the gear selector in the right spot (or steering wheel paddle control, or whatever). Example 2: you are already off the accel pedal and in regen braking, when the car hits a big bump in the road and the regen stops for a second. In both cases, the car is only coasting, damn it if it doesn't feel like accel! Early EVs were worse at this than newer models. (related: ask me someday how I broke my EV's axle once)
But most likely your feet hit the wrong pedal. And applying "brake pedal" behavior to the accel pedal can totally rocket you forward. I mean, that thrilling accel is why I drive EVs :) But not in a parking deck ...
Anyway, I'd go ahead and report it as described above.
posted by intermod at 11:11 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]
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posted by seanmpuckett at 5:53 AM on May 23 [4 favorites]