SUV driver apparently claims that he could not get his Expedition out of cruise control.
He could not shift into NEUTRAL or turn the key off. (His shift lever is on the post, where I prefer mine to the “cool” console shift lever location.)
Driver called 9-1-1.
A police officer caught up to him and slowed in front of the “runaway” SUV and slowed and stopped it.
Would an accelerating engine not allow power brakes to function well enough?
Would an accelerating engine prevent shifting into neutral or being unable to turn ignition off? I would turn key only enough to stop engine, not lock the steering wheel.
You should always be able to stop any vehicle with the brakes, even if the vehicle is at maximum acceleration. (unless you ride the brakes to the point where they become overheated and useless) You can always shift the vehicle into neutral, or turn off the key–the steering wheel will not lock unless you’ve managed to put it in park.
Of course it’s entirely possible that a panicked or simply stupid driver would not be able to do these things.
Thanks, Ob.
I taught my wife what to do if such a situation arises.
No need to panic if you have previously considered that this could happen and what to do about it.
HE, like too many others, was so busy panicing that he lost mind of trying multiple things that might actually work to solve the situation.
It’s that panic mode that gets so many into ultimate trouble in many many other circumstances, not just stuck accelerators but in a multitude of life’s scenarios.
The answer, for the rest of us, since hindsight is 20/20, is to run through our own minds the what ifs and mentaly practice what we might do.
This mental practice can be applied to all driving scenarios and is hugely beneficial in emergency maneuvers if your first gut reaction is correct because it’s already second nature in your subconscious mind.
This pre-practice mindset was drilled into us new pilots in flight school. You can’t pull over to the side of the sky and park while you figure out what you’re going to do. You need to be ready with at least a known set of probabilites already in your head.
Same with life.
Run ''what if ‘’ scenarios through your mind to practice.
At your house, what if…fire…long power outage…flood…tornado…etc.
With your family, what if…heart attack…car wreck…lost…drownig…etc.
Go take a Red Cross CPR course just because.
The only aspect that is missing from this driver-error scenario is the quote often heard from drivers of older Audis and other cars that were suspected of exhibiting Sudden Uncontrolled Acceleration.
What was that quote?
It was the classic, “The harder I pushed the brake pedal, the faster the car went”.
If someone is so muddle-headed that they mistake the gas pedal for the brake pedal, then–yes–the harder you push that pedal, the faster the car will go!
Duh!
Panic sets in, a problem develops, and then shortly afterwards when the smoke clears the driver starts with one of any number of excuses as to why the incident happened and why they couldn’t do anything about it.
Many years ago my wife and I were traveling and were stopped at a light in a small city.
As we’re sitting there I look in the rear view and notice a young lady (maybe 20) approaching me from behind with an older lady (assumed to be her mother).
I could see some arm waving and chatting go on and since there was no place for me to go due to cross-traffic I told my wife to sit back in the seat and brace herself.
She asked why and I told her I thought we were going to get run into from behind.
Sure enough, a few seconds later we got whacked. So getting out to see what damage was done (it was very slight) the obviously embarassed young lady was profusely apologizing and stating she did not know what caused it but she “thinks her brakes may have temporarily failed”. I bet.