2023 Tesla Model 3 Speed Control & Cruise Problems

The vehicle’s brakes did not work, automatic emergency brakes and collision warning both did not work. I pressed on the brake for about 5 seconds but the brakes did not work, resulting in a collision with the car in front. Everything is available for inspection if needed. Both my safety and the driver of the vehicle in front of me was at risk. The problem has not been confirmed yet. The vehicle is currently at a shop, waiting inspection. There were no warning lamps, messages, or symptoms.

On [XXX], my 2023 Tesla Model 3 (VIN: [XXX] ) suddenly accelerated on its own and the brakes failed to respond despite repeated pressing. To avoid hitting other vehicles, I turned into a property driveway and struck a tree. The airbags deployed. This was a case of sudden unintended acceleration combined with complete brake failure, creating a serious safety hazard. Forward Collision Warning also did not prevent the impact. A police report was filed by the Dekalb County Police Department, GA, USA (Report #[XXX], Case #[XXX]), which specifically documented brake failure as the cause of the accident. The report also notes that the driver was injured by the airbag and that the vehicle had to be towed from the scene. A copy of the police report can be provided upon request. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My Tesla Model 3 disengaged cruise control while going 68 mph and braked hard for no apparent reason. I was driving northbound on I-405 at 3:45 a.m. going to LAX airport in the number 3 or 4 of six or seven lanes. Cruise control had been activated for at least 10 minutes before the incident at a speed of 68 mph. There was no traffic within half a mile before or after me due to the time of day. Neither my left or right foot were near either the brake or acceleration pedal, nor were they in motion. Both hands were on the steering wheel and no control was being activated. The only noticeable environmental condition is that the road surface had just changed from a dark gray asphalt to a bright white new concrete roadway. No emergency braking alert was seen or heard, so I do not think it was a false collision detection, and there was no car within a half mile. However, I do believe the severity of braking could have caused an accident if there had been someone behind me. Tesla Model 3 Software Version was v12 (2025.20.6 046c4575d120).

I was traveling at highway speeds on a highway with no vehicles or other obstacles in front of me. I had adaptive cruise control on. Then, the emergency brakes deployed for no reason (so called “phantom braking”), decelerating the car quickly. I turned off adaptive cruise control as fast as I could and nothing bad happened. But the situation was dangerous, as if a car was close behind me it could have rear ended my vehicle.

The full self driving is very dangerous. I had several events that put me in danger. Like, going to the wrong lane. Going to the wrong way. Changing lanes that almost hit a car good thing I took over right away. It made the other car upset and honk at me.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while releasing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact stated that the vehicle stopped accelerating after 3-seconds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed, and it was determined that the tires needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,426.

When using cruise control, my 2023 Tesla Model 3 will aggressively brake without warning or apparent cause. The braking is near maximal - as though the vehicle is attempting to prevent an imminent collision. This defect poses a hazard to occupants of vehicles behind mine as well as myself and my passengers as sudden braking could cause a rear-end collision and cascading loss of control. Inclement weather would have exacerbated the problem. This problem is documented. From my brief research it appears Phantom Braking has been the subject of a NHTSA investigation previously but for prior model years. The issue persists. When I questioned Tesla Service regarding this life and limb threatening problem their staff was aware and well versed at requesting the customer report the issue as though it were a minor software glitch. This is a significantly more serious problem necessitating an appropriate response.

Driving normally down I-5, no other cars nearby and system suddenly phantom brakes. I am lucky no other cars were behind me as it may have well caused an accident. There were no other cars in front of me within at least 1 mile.

I have twice experienced a sudden acceleration when decreasing pressure on the accelerator pedal. It felt like the motor was producing full power. In both cases, I was able to quickly apply the brake which stopped the acceleration. Both episodes happened at slow speed, less than 20 mph, while either starting to slow for a stop or making a turn. Software on the car is fully up to date as of February 2024.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while attempting to park the vehicle, the vehicle suddenly accelerated independently. The contact lost control of the vehicle, coming to a complete stop after crashing into two poles and veering into a brick wall, where the vehicle briefly continued to accelerate. The air bags did not deploy. A Police report was filed. There were no injuries were reported. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: DP23002 (Speed Control). The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 100,000.

Vehicle does not have the proper software updates needed to clear the two NHTSA recalls for my VIN.

Vehicle will repeatedly aggressively brake while using “Enhanced Autopilot”, posing a danger to any cars behind. Complaints given to Tesla have been unresolved.

On 2 separate occasions, the cruise control set to 80 and suddenly decelerates. Very scary. Term being used in Tesla chat rooms is 'phantom breaking'.

Multiple times, the vehicle braked on its own while traveling eastbound on the Interstate 8 freeway between Yuma, AZ & Gila Bend, AZ. This was when no other vehicle or obstruction was on the freeway within a mile of the vehicle. The braking was very jarring, and if another vehicle was behind us it could have easily caused a high speed rear-end collision.

When cruise control is engaged, the vehicle suddenly decelerates, (at times dropping speed by more than 20 mph in less than 2 seconds). This occurs as often as 5-10 times in a single 60mi trip, and occurs at least once per trip on this same route (divided highway, sometimes with hills, often with no other cars ahead of or around the vehicle, speed 60-70mph) These events are unsafe because unexpected braking is a hazard for following cars and my passengers. My job as a driver is to be as predictable as possible, but when I use the cruise control the car behaves unpredictability Problem reported to dealer, confirmed by remote diagnostic, and car was serviced but the problem got worse. There are no warning lamps or error messages displayed in conjunction with these sudden braking events. First appeared when the car reached 2000miles on odometer

The cruise control was set at 70 MPH. The car braked itself and tried to stop itself even though I had no cars or objects in front of me. I had to apply the accelerator to get it to out of stopping itself. It happened twice in a short amount of time on that morning. The car is available for inspection. This is a safety issue as it could have caused an accident if I had someone too close behind me while driving on freeway I-75. I have not had the car inspected as this just happened yesterday 09/22/2023 and today is 09/23/2023. There was no warning prior to this happening and no issues with the car. Again this happened on 09/22/2023 for the first time. Thank You.

It happened in a parking lot around 8:20 pm on 09.13.23. When I slowly moved to parking space car suddenly accelerated, jumped over raised pavement for pedestrian walking, hit parked car on the other side of walking path, continue going with uncontrollable high speed across the parking, then car slowed down and I finally parked. Woman who witnessed accident and called the police told the police officer that she saw brake lights of my car were on. Two women from the car I hit showed me the markings from my tires on pavement. My husband who arrived to the place of accident by this time took pictures of these marks and next morning we return back to take another pictures and video. My car's odometer reading was less than 100 miles. We are having problem of uploading our pictures. We can supply to you our pictures and video if you need them.

I was driving on I-35 from Kansas City to Des Moines on 9-11-23, and three times the car experienced phantom braking (i.e. the car suddenly braked for no apparent reason) while the adaptive cruise control was activated. During these instances the car would suddenly brake and slow down and on one occasion I had to accelerate immediately to avoid possibly being rear ended. On all occasions there were no obstacles on the road or cars within 1/4 of a mile ahead of me.

1. When vehicle is on autopilot mode. Vehicle will all a sudden brake by itself with no reason as to why, no cars in front of me intermitly. Mostly happens when driving at highway speeds and when approaching a overpass. 2. Could be crash from the rear. 3. Have not notified Tesla. 4. No inspections have been performed 5. No warnings and no beeping either just brakes by itself intermitly.

Ever since I purchased my 2023 Tesla model 3 I have periodically experienced a phenomenon widely referred to on the web as "phantom braking". Google it (though you probably already know about it). When it makes the biggest impression on me is when I am driving at over 50 MPH on an open highway and the car suddenly slows down, to the extent that it feels like someone is applying the brakes. Every time it happened in recent memory there were no cars in front of me for hundreds if not thousands of feet, which is why it's surprising because there has never been an apparent reason for the sudden deceleration. Instinctively, I look in the rear view mirror to see if anyone is behind me because if someone were relatively close behind me such a sudden slow down could, IMO, cause an accident - or at least alarm the other driver enough to slam on their brakes. Having read about phantom braking I believe that Tesla removed the traditional LIDAR (or equivalent) technology used by other car makers for adaptive speed control or a similar feature, and instead relies solely on cameras to make judgements. This decision, IMO, has led to a dangerous weakness in the reliability of Tesla's cruise control.