death by floor mat? hmmm.....

[bimmerZ5]

so, i saw this video:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/play...hp?cl=15609347

and I don't understand... can't they put the car in neutral, then use the brakes and e-brakes, get away from traffic and swerve to slow down the car?

I mean, i feel bad for those that died and got injured, but are such basic things as putting the car in neutral and using the ebrake just too much to expect from the average driver in situations like this? is it just me?

[legendarysouls]

i think ur right they got up to 120 and called 911 that takes at least 20 plus seconds and that's alot of time to react i think something else happened and they just want to sue/ blame someone else

[mpwr enthuz]

Yeah pop it in neutral, but why did he say they had no brakes? Also, how did they know it was the floor mat if the car was so torn apart? props to the passenger for being so calm. I'm surprised they aired that guys last words, its a little freaky. When I was driving my brothers newly purchased e34 m5 back from Texas the carpet was pushing the throttle slightly, so of course I thought that there was some big $$$ problem. Freaked out, pulled off the highway, took me ten minutes to realize it was the damn mat.

[bimmerZ5]

i guess i just don't understand the statement "the average driver doesn't have the reactions of a fighter pilot..." ... really? you need to be a fighter pilot to know to put the car in neutral?

as far as the "no brakes" ... i suspect they tried using the brakes but the pads glazed over from running against the motor in WOT.... either way, when you lose control of the accelerator, my first gut reaction is put the car in neutral.... no?

[russoturristo]

[DrewDude320i]

that's happened to me in our ES300 before, but that was because my sister got a mat from autozone. I just put my foot behind the pedal, pulled it up, and went along my way. ES300's don't really have enough power to get anywhere fast.

Maybe those people were just in panic mode, but I don't see why they couldn't have put it in neutral, or just applied the brakes...

[9wiki]

Even intelligent people can make stupid mistakes.

Nonetheless, for common folk there is next to no expectation of responsibility in driving. No sense of responsibility means no critical thinking or training is involved. It's the sad truth.

[bdr127]

Originally Posted by 9wiki

Even intelligent people can make stupid mistakes.

Nonetheless, for common folk there is next to no expectation of responsibility in driving. No sense of responsibility means no critical thinking or training is involved. It's the sad truth.

+1, especially when it comes to reactive and defensive driving.

[Tangent]

From what I've read there's more to it than putting it in neutral and shutting the car off. I think with the electronic transmission controls it won't just go into neutral when it thinks you're on the gas. The start/stop button that Lexus used apparently needs to be held down for 3 seconds to shut the car off when in gear. In a panic situation - assuming they were even aware of the 3-second requirement - that wouldn't be easy to remember. What that story doesn't mention is that some witnesses reported the brakes flaming, so the driver had definitely put his foot into it to try to stop.

An option people need to think about in emergencies like that is guardrails. Just squeeze your car up against the guardrail to slow down. Sure, it'll probably total the car, but that's a much better option than a fiery death...

[Stück]

Why is this the car manufactuers problem?

Either put it in nuetral, 1,2,3, brakes, ebrake, turn the key, crash into a wall, so something.

I mean its a damn Prius. It took it a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time to get to 120MPH.

Issue a Darwin award and move on.

[epmedia]

Brakes do not work well with the throttle stuck - brakes rely on full vacuum, and the power of the engine overwhelmed the result even harder. Yes, neutral could have worked, turning off the engine - maybe not because of steering lock.

Geez... Strange coincedence: just last Sunday night - my son's girlfriend had a throttle sticking on her saturn. They both almost crashed into a power pole. It appeared to be a very loose throttle cable, managing to work it's way off the track of the what-you-call-it on the throttle body linkage.

It happened twice to them. The throttle system appears in tact - just to much slack in the cable. We crimped a 3/16" long piece of alloy tubing to take-up the slack, and seems good now.

For an extra 10 bucks there should be a much better way to prevent this sort of thing.

Robert

Originally Posted by Stück

Why is this the car manufactuers problem?

It is the manufactures problem, rolling down hill to the consumer.

Think about it if you wish, Robert

Originally Posted by 9wiki

Even intelligent people can make stupid mistakes.

Nonetheless, for common folk there is next to no expectation of responsibility in driving. No sense of responsibility means no critical thinking or training is involved. It's the sad truth.

My son is almost pro with skateboards, so that may have been what prevented an accident in the saturn (fast reflexes and coordination). Sometimes there is only a fraction of a second to respond well. They missed the power pole by about one inch when the throttle stuck on their saturn.

Take care, Robert

[Stück]

Its not Toyotas fault the people that drive their cars are morons.

Just listen to the idiot on the phone. He isn't driving. Its like he thinks its some joke. The idea that he thinks 911 can do anything for him......

[hon2bmw]

Originally Posted by Stück

Why is this the car manufactuers problem?

Either put it in nuetral, 1,2,3, brakes, ebrake, turn the key, crash into a wall, so something.

I mean its a damn Prius. It took it a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time to get to 120MPH.

Issue a Darwin award and move on.

Actually, after further investigation it was a 2009 Lexus ES350 (272hp, 0-60 in 6.8 seconds) that was given to them as a loaner car from the dealership, someone had installed a floor mat from another model on the car and it was too long for the foot well.

[Stück]

Be that as it may.. you can still shut the engine off, bang it into neutral, downshift, crash into a wall, guardrail, so on.. so forth.

Calling 911 and expecting them to help you... priceless.

[Dirtsquirt]

Wait? What?

This guy was CHP, shouldn't he know better?

[Andy348]

Originally Posted by Stück

Be that as it may.. you can still shut the engine off, bang it into neutral, downshift, crash into a wall, guardrail, so on.. so forth.

Calling 911 and expecting them to help you... priceless.

There have been times where police have closed highways in the same situation. Obviously there wasn't enough time.

If he didn't call, we'd all just assume that it was some idiot doing 120 in his loaner Lexus and carelessly crashed :/

[epmedia]

Originally Posted by Stück

Calling 911 and expecting them to help you... priceless.

You are starting to sound like a jerk. Hush-up or I'll make a fool out of you .

[325bob]

The 911 person should have said "turn off your ignition,DUHH", btw, you get a couple of stops with power after engine is off, from stored vacuum, and the steering doesn't lock unless you pull the key out, and put it in park on a slushamatic. If this happened to a cop, imagine how aloof the average driver is, scary. Have any of you ever tried an "emergency brake" stop?, good practice, don't expect much, but at least you'll know what to expect.

[bmwcrazi24]

yeah i really feel that alot of things couldve been done to prevent this. And seriously, if the guy had the time to have his buddy or family memeber dial, and talk several sentences to 911, surely they couldve figured something out in that time. Ive been in situations where youre too scared to function at 100% but still, if you can take a breath, figure it out, you might have been able to stop that 120hp prius from working its way up all the way to 120mph. And holy hell is that thing wrecked! theres like nothign but the right side of the unibody!

[KenAllen08]

That's why manual cars are aweeesommme.

Throw the clutch in, put in neutral, stop, get out while the engine is bouncing off the rev limiter, run, watch car blow up.

[bimmerZ5]

Originally Posted by KenAllen08

That's why manual cars are aweeesommme.

Throw the clutch in, put in neutral, stop, get out while the engine is bouncing off the rev limiter, run, watch car blow up.

Uh... you can put any automatic in "N" at any time.... and watch the engine blow up too...

[KenAllen08]

Originally Posted by bimmerZ5

Uh... you can put any automatic in "N" at any time.... and watch the engine blow up too...

Somebody said above that some cars prevent you from changing into neutral at WOT.

[bimmerZ5]

Originally Posted by KenAllen08

Somebody said above that some cars prevent you from changing into neutral at WOT.

i doubt that... the only restrictions i've ever seen in any of the fancy automatics in modern cars are all the same, you can't accidentally go into "R" or "P" while moving forward, but dropping into "N" is never a problem from any of the "forward/D" positions. but hey, what do i know????

[GadgetRick]

It's very easy to talk about how to get out of the situation when you're NOT in the situation. Much different when you're in the middle of it with people in the car (certainly) freaking out. When people panic, people do not think clearly. Don't be so critical as you have no idea how you'll react in a panic situation.

[Critter7r]

Originally Posted by legendarysouls

i think ur right they got up to 120 and called 911 that takes at least 20 plus seconds and that's alot of time to react i think something else happened and they just want to sue/ blame someone else

Uhhh... they all died.

Originally Posted by GadgetRick

It's very easy to talk about how to get out of the situation when you're NOT in the situation. Much different when you're in the middle of it with people in the car (certainly) freaking out. When people panic, people do not think clearly. Don't be so critical as you have no idea how you'll react in a panic situation.

I have had this type of panic situation happen with my wife (albeit a much less important situation and without the death at the end).... Anyhow....

....She's in the kitchen (of course), using the garbage disposal and drops the scrubbie thing with the handle down into the disposal. So she freaks out, cuz it's chewing up the handle of her scrubbie thing and SCREAMS at the top of her lungs and then runs to the door to yell for me to come help!! help!! (I was in the garage) So I bolt inside thinking somebody cut a finger or something's on fire and instead, I hear the disposal and see the scrubbie thing twirling around standing up in the disposal... "grab it! grab it!!! It'll ruin the disposal!! I can't get it out of the disposal!!!!" She screaming at me as I .... slowly ... (turning back to look at her) ...reach ..... over ..... and ..... turn ...................... off .............the disposal switch.


"oh". She says. "Guess I coulda just shut it off, huh?"


So yeah... She's a goner if this accelerator sticking thing ever happens to her.