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Can't stop?
David Jenkins - 4/8/11 at 06:53 PM

Look at this US news item...

Linky

Now, ok, he couldn't get the auto box out of 'drive' - but couldn't he turn the ignition off? Looking at the pictures, you can see that he has a conventional ignition key on the steering column.

I can't think of any car that won't let you turn the engine off, no matter what state the car is currently in. I appreciate that you wouldn't want to turn the key right off as the steering lock would come on - but even that would be preferable to piling into some other vehicle?

Liam - 4/8/11 at 07:00 PM

Never mind the engine, what about, you know, the brakes? What the hell???

blakep82 - 4/8/11 at 07:04 PM

according to any police videos i've seen from america, if a cop pulls someone over, someone else ALWAYS has to pile into the side of them, so i'm not surprised really.
with a car going at 60, i doubt the brakes would actually stop the car, just sort of burn them out, but yeah, ignition off. job done. you lose power brakes, but just push harder lol

owelly - 4/8/11 at 07:05 PM

And I couldn't see his brake lights coming on.

Furyous - 4/8/11 at 07:38 PM

I don't know about automatics, but in a manual if you turn the engine off and keep it in gear you will still have power steering and brake servo. It might cause slight damage to the engine, but never mind that when the alternative is ploughing into a ditch at 60mph.

Are push-button ignition cars software controlled? I'd imagine they could prevent the engine being turned off if there's a software fault. But as said above, it was probably a normal turn-key ignition.

JoelP - 4/8/11 at 07:52 PM

In this situation i think its usually someone trying to get attention. Id ban him on the off chance anyway, for being too dumb to think of any solution from the many available to him.

David Jenkins - 4/8/11 at 08:14 PM

If I'd been in that situation I'd first have tried to get into neutral. If that failed (as in this case, apparently) I'd have waited until the car was on a straight length of road (if possible), turned off the ignition and stood on the brakes for all I was worth.

This is what pee'd me off about all of the Toyota nonsense - yes, there was a fault which meant that the throttle jammed open, but unless you have fancy ignition controls the key can always be turned off...

[Edited on 4/8/11 by David Jenkins]

MikeRJ - 4/8/11 at 08:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
In this situation i think its usually someone trying to get attention. Id ban him on the off chance anyway, for being too dumb to think of any solution from the many available to him.


Agreed! No excuse for stupidity of that level.

[Edited on 4/8/11 by MikeRJ]

tegwin - 4/8/11 at 10:14 PM

You also tend to find modern cars cut the throttle when you brake anyway.....

morcus - 4/8/11 at 11:46 PM

My dad actually encountered what I believe they're saying the problem was (Faulty Cruise Control in Jag kept accelerating) whilst driving a bride to a wedding and he sorted the whole thing without anyone noticing by flicking it into nuetral and turning the engine off and then back on which seemed to fix it.

There are many ways to stop a car if the throttle locks open, in an auto putting the shifter into anything other than drive should sort it out, as would turning off the engine. Anyone else think it's intresting that these stories only ever seem to come out of America like the case with Audi and the more recent Toyota?

iank - 5/8/11 at 12:20 AM

Not always America
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4796264.stm

later followed by
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/5094840.stm

blakep82 - 5/8/11 at 12:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by iank
Not always America
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4796264.stm

later followed by
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/5094840.stm


he did it twice?

morcus - 5/8/11 at 03:05 AM

I stand corrected.

That story has some weird points, it says he didn't turn of the engine for fear of locking the steering but couldn't he have turned off the engine without turning the key all the way to off which should mean the steering lock wouldn't come on?

JoelP - 5/8/11 at 06:43 AM

the steering lock doesnt come on til the key is completely removeed from the ignition, so you can turn it off no problem. Again, ban them.

Liam - 5/8/11 at 06:54 AM

quote:
Originally posted by morcus
I stand corrected.

That story has some weird points, it says he didn't turn of the engine for fear of locking the steering but couldn't he have turned off the engine without turning the key all the way to off which should mean the steering lock wouldn't come on?


Would he have known that, especially in a panic situation? You dont seem to be too sure yourself!

I still find it incredible he couldn't turn off the cruise control (by brake pedal or off button - at least two methods), AND couldn't shift to neutral, AND the brakes did nothing (I mean surely brakes are way more than powerful enough to overcome an engine on cruise control - you slam on your brakes with your foot partially on the throttle - I bet it still slows down!).

morcus - 5/8/11 at 06:29 PM

He was on the phone to the AA and the police who between them should have known and could have looked it up to check. I personally would be so worried about stopping that I don't think I'd even consider the steering lock.

David Jenkins - 5/8/11 at 06:34 PM

That's why I said that I would wait until I was pointing down a straight road - all it needs is a hundred yards clear - if the steering lock came on while the wheels were pointing straight ahead then it wouldn't make much difference to stopping safely.

As for using the brakes - the case where a driver and his family got killed in a runaway Toyota had said over the phone that his brakes had burnt out...