Chrysler is recalling 4.8M vehicles because cruise control may not shut off

An 'unlikely' sequence of events could cause risk to drivers.

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Chrysler is recalling almost five million vehicles because of a pretty scary defect with its cruise control system.

The motor giant says that it has discovered a defect that means a driver may not be able to manually turn off cruise control, either by pressing the brake pedal or by pressing the off button.

This would basically mean the car would maintain its current, cruise control speed or possibly even accelerate – increasing the risk of crash if it can't be disengaged.

In its statement, Chrysler says it's "unlikely" such a sequence of events would happen, adding that the brake pedal would still stop cruise control on some of its vehicles.

Otherwise drivers could shift the vehicle into neutral and then brake.

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There have been no injuries or crashes associated with the defect, but it's nonetheless issuing a recall for millions of models, with owners expected to be contacted in the coming weeks so they can be scheduled for a software upgrade.

"Notwithstanding the extraordinary circumstances that must exist before a customer would experience a problem, we are taking this action because we are fully committed to vehicle safety,” says Mark Chernoby, chief technical compliance officer of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.d.

Here are the models affected: