But the Audi cases aren't 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.
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| Sixteen complaints have been lodged with the NHTSA regarding stuck throttles in cold weather. (Photo: Audi Canada) |
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.
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| The previous accusations from the TV show "60 Minutes" hurt Audi's sales tremendously, even though they turned out to be false. (Photo: Audi Canada) |
If you're 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.