In the last handful of years, South Korean automaker Hyundai has been able to capitalize on the recent global economic volatility to make tremendous gains in the auto market.
Determined to challenge its Asia competitor Toyota, Hyundai is also encountering some very Toyota-like problems with its vehicles -- an October 10, 2012 dash cam reveals a Seoul taxi driver in a Hyundai Sonata experiencing an alleged major unintended acceleration incident that injured 10 people.
Based on the video footage, the Hyundai Sonata YF taxi cab is creeping along in slow moving traffic when it suddenly accelerates forward, violently colliding with a car ahead.
Spinning its tires and burning its engine in a cloud of smoke, the Sonata then engaged the reverse gear to collide with the dash cam vehicle behind. Finding a small window of opportunity, a frightened passenger hops out from the harrowing taxi ride.
Following the incident, the cab driver insisted that it was a freak unintended acceleration incident. At just two-weeks old, the Hyundai Sonata YF in question is, for all intents and purposes, brand new. That said, according to Korean media, preliminary investigations have yet to determine whether the cab driver or the vehicle was at fault.
This isn't the first unintended acceleration to plague Hyundai-Kia. Back in August, an Iowa woman in a 2011 Kia Sorento crossover with a stuck accelerator tore through traffic at over 120 mph before state police could assist her to a stop.
Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of details to go on beyond the video footage below. Genuine mechanical defect or insurance fraud? Let us know!
