On Jan 11, 2008, my wife was driving our 2001 Mercedes E430 sedan when suddenly the accelerator pedal would not respond such that the car would not accelerate. Luckily, she was on a quiet city street so that she could coast off to the side and stop without any incidence. Later the Mercedes dealer, Sangera Automotive Group, found that the accelerator pedal cable was broken.
The car has only 40,000 miles on it and it was always parked in a garage. We follow all the scheduled services. It is scary to think what if this happened on a congested highway in LA, or when going up a steep hill in SF.