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Stuck accelerator Video. HOLY CRAP

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On the topic of sticking the car in neutral... wasn't the issue with the unintended acceleration on the prius a few years back was that it has a goofy gearbox where there's no actual mechanical linkage and instead a switch? And that there was some kind of glitch?

I didn't follow it too closely, so my memory may be a bit fuzzy there.
 
bunnyfubbles said:
and this is why everyone should be forced to learn stick, anyone who knows how to drive stick would calmly just shift into neutral even on an automatic, then just take the key out
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I had this happen on a stick shift car. Freaked me out for a second, but once I grasped what was happening, threw it into neutral, red lined, slammed on the brakes, locked up, realized I didn't have ABS, pumped brakes, and stopped. Scared some soccer moms half to death.
 
kevman said:
I do not understand why these fucking morons just don't put it in neutral.
WHAT THE FUCK ?
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Others mentioned this action, but yours best captures my similar thoughts.

fstime said:
You are obviously a moron and don't understand that under so much pressure and adrenaline running through you at that exact moment, you sometimes do not think as clearly as a somebody (cough cough) sitting behind his little computer monitor watching a video on youtube in his parents basement.
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My initial thought was to crap on you for being a moron. But yes, it is true that it is easier to decide what to do when you have plenty of time to think about it. But more than that, it boils down to the person. In a panic situation, some people fret and look around for someone to help, some people take action. And some people are just better at processing a situation. No way to know which one you are until you're in a situation.
 
Hit the brakes is obviously a good first reaction.

But if for whatever the reason that doesn't work, people should know how to put it in neutral. Yeah maybe you damage the engine but better that than hitting something... and even engine damage seems unlikely from bouncing off redline for a few seconds.

Turning the engine off seems dangerous. As far as I know, the car's hydraulics (brakes, steering) are run off engine power... turn off the power, lose power braking/steering. Fail. Also maybe this isn't true in newer cars but in the cars I've driven, if you turn the steering wheel too far w/the engine off, it locks.
 
eLiu said:
Turning the engine off seems dangerous. As far as I know, the car's hydraulics (brakes, steering) are run off engine power... turn off the power, lose power braking/steering. Fail.
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Wrong. While you lose the power assist, you do NOT lose steering or your brakes, you just have to press harder on the brake pedal and the steering takes a bit more effort.



Fail on your part.
 
fatpat268 said:
On the topic of sticking the car in neutral... wasn't the issue with the unintended acceleration on the prius a few years back was that it has a goofy gearbox where there's no actual mechanical linkage and instead a switch? And that there was some kind of glitch?

I didn't follow it too closely, so my memory may be a bit fuzzy there.
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No, the issue was user error. All of the cases were thrown out when the Feds and Toyota could not duplicate it.
 
NL5 said:
Neutral would blow the engine, but at least you'd avoid an accident. Just shut the car off. I think they teach that on the first day of drivers ed.
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Nah... That's what the rev limiter is for. Throwing a modern engine into neutral at full throttle makes one hell of an impressive engine noise, but it doesn't cause the engine to blow up.

I had this exact same thing happen to my old Audi, but some quick thinking kept me out of an accident.
 
Zenmervolt said:
Yes, they do. Take your car up to 60 mph and floor both the brakes and the accelerator. You WILL slow down. Worst case scenario is that the brakes will overheat at some point and you'll come to a balance at 5 to 10 mph, but you sure as hell will not just go shooting to 80 mph. And it doesn't matter what car you have, if you floor the brakes while stopped even 100% throttle won't make you start moving.

The brakes would have to be completely worn out (devoid of friction material) to be ineffective at slowing the car.

ZV
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^This.


Brakes have pretty much always been more than capable of stopping a car, even at 100% throttle.....at least anything produced in the last four decades.
 
Zenmervolt said:
Yes, they do. Take your car up to 60 mph and floor both the brakes and the accelerator. You WILL slow down. Worst case scenario is that the brakes will overheat at some point and you'll come to a balance at 5 to 10 mph, but you sure as hell will not just go shooting to 80 mph. And it doesn't matter what car you have, if you floor the brakes while stopped even 100% throttle won't make you start moving.

The brakes would have to be completely worn out (devoid of friction material) to be ineffective at slowing the car.

ZV
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I suggest you watch the video that was posted earlier in the thread. Stepping on the brake does NOT always work.
 
Meghan54 said:
Wrong. While you lose the power assist, you do NOT lose steering or your brakes, you just have to press harder on the brake pedal and the steering takes a bit more effort.



Fail on your part.
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Unless you turn the key past accessory, and then the steering wheel will lock.
 
Impossible to determine who is at fault without seeing the race of the driver. If asian female, driver fault. If not, car fault.
 
How do you lose control of a stopped car?

Agree with posts that state it as driver error.

Brakes/Neutral/Pull the key, all would've worked fine.

After dodging the initial car (very good reaction btw) he had plenty of time to figure out his course of action. Dude probably panicked and kept stomping on the accelerator to get it to unstick.

...think we'll finally go back to mechanical throttle linkages?
 
xj0hnx said:
I suggest you watch the video that was posted earlier in the thread. Stepping on the brake does NOT always work.
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Seen the video, CR is flat wrong. It's not an uncommon position for CR to be in, they are pretty much completely ignorant when it comes to anything with an engine.

The problem in the CR video is that they gave up and started pumping the brakes. At WOT, an engine is not producing vacuum so the vacuum booster for the brakes will only have enough for one or two pumps of the brake pedal before power assist is lost and you're working with manual brakes which require MUCH higher pedal pressures.

Had the man in the CR video simply trusted his brakes and kept his foot down HARD on the brake pedal the first time, the vehicle would absolutely and without question have come to a stop from 60 mph.

ZV
 
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From my vacations and observation, asian countries need auto driving cars more than the US. Save them Google!
 
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