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Audi Investigated for Unintended Acceleration

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Ford, GM and Toyota Also Suffer from UA Reports, But Audi Gets Top Headline

Recent complaints of unintended acceleration have been bad news for Ford and General Motors, but it could be much more traumatic for Audi.

The luxury brand has come a long way since similar accusations nearly drove it out of business in the 1980s, helped along by fabricated TV coverage courtesy of the CBS news show 60 Minutes.

It looks likely that the nightmare is recurring, but this time its not a corrupt TV series making up stories for ratings, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) heading up the investigation.

Monday the NHTSA stated it is investigating the 1998 and 1999 Audi A6 for a possible

Accusations of unintended acceleration are once again a recurring nightmare for Audi. (Photo: Audi of America)

Why the need to investigate? The government organization states that 16 complaints have been lodged with the agency regarding stuck throttles in cold weather, normally sub-freezing temperatures. One of the 16 complaints states that the vehicle was "fully accelerating on its own," while another says the vehicle "suddenly began to race," which resulted in the car running past stop signs and through intersections before

The Audi A6 from 1998 to 1999 is the car the NHTSA is focusing their investigation on. (Photo: Audi of America)

But the Audi cases arent isolated. Over the last two years complaints of unintended or sudden acceleration incidents have been growing. As previously mentioned both Ford and GM have been the subject of lawsuits.

Even the Japanese have been targeted, with the best selling Toyota Camry being investigated by the NHTSA for the same problem.

Looking to the past to make sense of the present, unintentional acceleration cases became more prevalent after 60 Minutes presented their one-sided coverage (actually 17 minutes of coverage) against the 5000, the A6 predecessor.

Sixteen complaints have been lodged with the NHTSA regarding stuck throttles in cold weather. (Photo: Audi of America)

If youre not familiar with the 60 Minutes feature, it featured a variety of "victims" including one distressed mother, Kristi Bradosky, who had unintentionally killed her six year old son Joshua when her "foot slipped off the brake pedal onto the gas pedal accelerating the auto," according to a statement taken by Canton, Ohio police officer Steven Zerby. Of course, the 60 Minutes episode that initially ran on November 23, 1986, titled "Out of Control," and then ran again on September 13, 1987, declined to mention the police report, but rather took an excerpt that featured Mrs. Bradosky stating she had only pressed the brake.