THE ENGINE BEGAN REVVING HIGH AS I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR AND APPLY THE BRAKES AS I APPROACHED A TRAFFIC RED LIGHT. I PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL TO SEE IF BY TAPPING THE GAS PEDAL IT WOULD STOP REVVING. IT DID NOT. WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL TO THE FLOOR, I PUT THE CAR IN DRIVE AND THE CAR SPED FORWARD DESPITE MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. I WENT THROUGH A RED LIGHT TRYING TO MAKE A LEFT TURN ON TO A MAJOR HIGHWAY, CROSSED A MEDIAN STRIP, CLIPPED A VEHICLE IN THE REAR, TURNED THE CAR TRYING TO AVOID COLLISIONS WITH OTHER CARS, WENT OFF THE ROAD HITTING UTILITY POLE AND TRANSFORMER BOX ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, FINALLY COMING TO REST WITH AIR BAGS DEPLOYED ON THE DRIVER SIDE. THIS HAPPENED ON JULY 8, 2018, A SUNDAY AFTERNOON. NO ONE WAS HURT, BUT OBVIOUSLY SHAKEN AND CONFUSED HOW MY BRAKES COULD FAIL ON A CAR RECENTLY IN FOR ITS 10000 MILE SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE 9 DAYS PRIOR. RESEARCHING THIS ON LINE FOUND SIMILAR INCIDENTS OF THIS OCCURRING WITH MAZDA 3 VEHICLES AND OTHER MANUFACTURERS (I.E. TOYOTA). REFERRED TO AS SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION (SUA). THERE ARE MANY REPORTED CASES OF SUA, SOME WHERE DRIVERS ARE AT FAULT. MY CASE WAS CLEARLY MECHANICAL DEFECT RELATED.
NHTSA ODI 11115710