ACURA DIVISION OF AMERICA HONDA MOTOR CO.

UPDATE 2-24-2002: Since I originally put up this site, much has happened. I have received a lot of email, both positive and negative, and I thank all of you for your comments. There also seems to be significantly more information on the web about this problem. See the reports on 'uncommanded acceleration" in the Rover 800 series, which apparently uses Acura parts. There are also some interesting reports on the Jeep Cherokee ( see Strategic Safety Special Investigation and the Cherokee story at SafetyForum.com).

UPDATE 5-8-2001: Great News! I presented my case before the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, requesting that they remove the insurance charge which I was assessed after my accident. I provided supporting documents, printouts of safety complaints and a letter and report summary from the NHTSA. They accepted my arguments and my surcharge was revoked. My driving record is once more unblemished.

Or How My Love Affair With My ACURA Legend Came To An Unhappy End...
Up until November of 1999 I would have said to anyone who asked, even to people who didn't ask, that I loved my car. With the exception of the over $2K I spent fixing the rust on it and the frequent replacement of those damn Michelin tires, it had been very affordable to maintain by my local mechanic (with the exception of about $2500 that I blew up at the Acura dealership doing basic maintenance and replacing the fuel pan etc.).I had bought this car used with 105K miles on it and it had served me well. Up to that point my main requirement for a car was that it started whenever I wanted to go somewhere. This car far exceeded my expectations: it was comfortable with leather seats and I could open the sunroof in the summer and it looked great.

However, on November 29 all that changed. I had already owned my car for 4-5 years. I had been driving for 32 years..no accidents or speeding/traffic violations. I was in a Dunkin Donuts parking lot. I was driving my son to the airport after Thanksgiving. My husband was in the back seat. I went in to get us some coffee. When I came out, my son had the trunk open to get something out of his suitcase. Unfortunately he dropped the key. So I said, "Just wait until I back the car out and you can look to see if it fell under the car." I got in, put my foot on the brake and shifted out of Park. The engine made a loud revving noise and the car shot backward. Pumping the brake had no effect at all and I smashed into another car. The only way to stop the car was to turn off the ignition.

Sounds fishy, right? The police who came certainly gave that impression. They said they had never heard of such a thing. Well I knew that it had happened. Both my son and my husband heard the engine rev when the gears were shifted. So I did some research on the web and found my way to the NHTSA web site (National Highway and Traffic Safety). I did a search of their online database for safety reports on the Acura Legend 1988. I printed out 50 pages on my car and two thirds were reports of exactly the same thing that I experienced...sudden acceleration when shifting out of Park. There were so many reports in the first two years that the car was on the road that the NHTSA opened an investigation. After two years the investigation was closed because they could not reproduce the problem and could not figure out what would make the car behave like that other than driver error. There were at least two deaths documented and a multitude of injured people.

There are still a lot of these cars out there. My car is sitting in my driveway right now and has been since I got it back from the body shop almost 4 months ago. I could not in good conscience sell it to anyone until I know that whatever caused the problem is repaired. Acura reps have denied any knowledge of such a problem (yet Acura engineers were consulted for the NHTSA report).

I would not ever want to find myself in such a situation again, shooting backward in an out-of-control vehicle, powerless to stop it. Imagine if a person had been walking across that parking lot, or if I was in my own driveway and a neighbor's child was going by. It is a horrifying thought and I cannot believe that nothing has been done to alert people to this problem. If you own an Acura Legend '88 or are considering buying a used one, please do the research yourself. In fact, the other day I saw a car in a parking lot exactly like mine, except it had a baby seat in the back. Think about that...

Then think about why the car is still on the road, in spite of numerous reports and an investigation. Acura maintains that there are no conditions under which the engine can override the brakes, if the brakes are in working order. The NHTSA concluded that it must be driver error...drivers were shifting with their foot on the accelerator instead of the brake. Subsequently cars were designed with shift locks so it was impossible to shift without your foot on the brake.

Yet many of the drivers involved were experienced drivers like myself. Think about it. The brake is a wide pedal, higher than the accelerator. There is a completely different feeling when you put your foot on the brake. And when you press down on the accelerator or lift your foot off, the car changes speed.

So what now? Acura claims ignorance. The car isn't worth a lot...maybe a few thousand dollars but that is a lot to me at the moment and so I am just doing without a car because I can't afford to junk it and buy one that isn't a lethal weapon. Do you ever get the feeling that consumers get the short end? And what about the people who were killed by these cars? The more research I do the more horrified I am. If you have anything to add to my research, please email me.

[UPDATE: Since putting up this site, I have contacted the engineer at NHTSA who investigated and wrote the report on sudden acceleration in the early 90s. His bottom line response to me was that they didn't find any one component that might be responsible and that he could not tell me the problem does not exist or that my car would not do the exact same thing again. My car is still sitting in my driveway and I'm getting tired of not having wheels.]

This site was Protest Site of the Day on
Consumerama on April 21, 2000
Copyright 2000-2002 Catherine E. Smith