[OUMX117]

Originally Posted by JackandJanet

It's easy to smile at this unless it happens to you (and, OUMX, I'm not taking potshots at you, I'm just talking from experience).

I used to own a 70's era T-Bird and I remember one day having the accelerator pedal stick down (in town). My fist reaction was to step on the brake. This had a slowing effect but not as much as you'd think, because the engine was at several thousand rpms and it just seemed to add more power as the car slowed a bit. Next, I turned off the ignition - this helped too, but not as much as you'd want because at that rpm and with the pedal down, the engine "dieseled" and just kept running. I finally hooked my toe under the pedal and lifted it, which allowed me to bring the car to a safe stop. My heart rate was pretty high at this point. It didn't occur to me to shift into neutral.

In my case, a floor mat had caught the pedal and caused it to stay down. I've been VERY careful about floor mats ever since that incident.

But, to modern vehicles: The brake MAY stop or slow the acceleration, but the vehicle is still going to be hard to manage. My guess is, it won't stop the vehicle by itself. Turning the ignition OFF may work now, since the PCM controls fuel delivery and it should shutdown fuel to the engine so that it won't diesel like mine did. However, you DO risk engaging the ignition interlock that might lock the steering wheel in some models. I haven't checked Janet's Toyota to see if the wheel would become locked when in a forward gear with the ignition off, and I need to do that. Locking the steering could be a disaster.

People will warn about losing power steering and power brakes with the ignition off, but that's not really a big deal.You just have to push harder on the pedal and perhaps use more force on the wheel, if that's all you lose.

Finally, shifting into neutral: I think this is the second thing you should try right after stepping on the brake (which is naturally the first thing you do). You'll certainly cause the engine to rev to its limit by doing this, but the rev limiter probably won't allow the engine to self-destruct. And besides even if it did, if you don't die like the policeman's family did, it's worth it. Once you get the vehicle under control, you can turn the ignition off.

The important thing is to "have a plan", because I guarantee you will not be thinking very clearly if this happens to you.

- Jack

No I understand what you are saying completely, so no worries I bet it would be a bit hard to think at first as well. I just heard a phone call on the radio the other day where they played the 911 call that came in from some people that were in either a prius or a corolla and it was going like 100mph and they couldn't stop it. I know it takes a long time to get one of those cars to 100mph so I think the real problem is that drivers nowadays don't fully understand what the different controls on their vehicles are capable of doing. Because if you had the 20-25 seconds that it would take to get that car up to that speed (being optimistic of the corolla's performance capabilities, haha) a properly trained driver should be able to figure out a way to cut the power. Not saying it should be a first instinct to everyone, but after you figured out waht was happening I think most people should be able to fix this problem. Another problem with today's drivers is that they are scared of their vehicles and have no idea how to control them in a potentially dangerous situation. Take for example what happened to me last summer (not saying I am the best driver by any means but I can handle my vehicles to their full potential, haha) I was driving down the highway at about 70-72mph and the trailer in front of me hit a bump and launched a wheelbarrow off and directly at me. I was in the left lane and there was a car to my right. i had to rip the wheel to the left and put it into the grassy median at about 65mph I was able to maintain control of the truck by staying on the throttle and keeping the truck moving forward and steering it back onto the road. After that I had to stop and check my pants, hahaha. But there was no damage to my truck or the people that were in it. I think if drivers were forced to learn how to control their vehicles in more extreme situations there would ba alot fewer wrecks. There's my $.02 about why I think there are so many wrecks today. That was a heck of a tangent, haha.