NHTSA complaint: 2013 MERCEDES-BENZ SL550 — SERVICE BRAKES
JUN 2017: ANNUAL SERVICE. ASK TO HAVE BRAKES CHECKED BECAUSE BRAKE PEDAL WAS TRAVELLING DOWN TO THE FLOOR. JUN 2018: ANNUAL SERVICE. COMPLAINT: BRAKE PEDAL WOULD HIT THE FLOOR AND AS IT TRAVELED DOWN FURTHER, THE ENGINE ACCELERATION TICKED-UP, AT WHICH TIME I RELEASED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND RE-APPLIED THE BRAKES SUCCESSFULLY. JUN 2019: ANNUAL SERVICE: STRONG COMPLAINT: DITTO JUN 2018 EXCEPT AS THE BRAKE PEDAL APPROACHED THE FLOOR, THE ENGINE ACCELERATION WAS INCREASING. 12 MAR 2020: ACCIDENT: TIME 0645 AM PST, TRAVELING WEST-BOUND ON A NEAR-STRAIGHTAWAY (SLIGHT 5-DEGREE CURVE TO THE LEFT) AT 40 MPH IN A 50 MPH ZONE ON A 6-LANE ROADWAY, IN FAR-RIGHT LANE WITH 8-CAR-LENGTHS TO THE CAR AHEAD, I APPLIED THE BRAKES AS THE CARS AHEAD OF ME SLOWED TO A STOP IN THE RIGHT LANE. I CONTINUED INCREASING PRESSURE ON THE BRAKES UNTIL THE PEDAL WAS ON THE FLOOR, THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKES SYSTEM NEVER ENGAGED AND AT ABOUT 20-FT TO THE CAR AHEAD, THE ENGINE RPM TOOK OVER DEFEATING THE WHOLE BRAKE SYSTEM RESULTING IN MY CAR ACCELERATING AND SMASHING INTO THE CAR STOPPED AHEAD OF MY CAR. IN HIND-SIGHT, I FOUND OUT THAT M-B OF SAN DIEGO SERVICE DEPT. NEVER PERFORMED A DRIVE-TEST TO CHECK-OUT MY REQUESTS BUT INSTEAD PERFORMED A STANDARD BRAKE-PADS & FLUID-LEVEL CHECK AND RETURNED THE CAR TO ME IN AS-IS CONDITION. UNTIL 12 MAR, THIS PROBLEM OF THE BRAKES TRAVELING TO THE FLOOR BEFORE THE RPM-INCREASE ENGAGED HAD BEEN UNDER CONTROL, BEING MOST NOTICEABLE AT LOW SPEEDS OF 10-12 MPH IN T
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation