# Assholes drive cars too. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 5, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686 "2004-10-05T18:06:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/41 "2004-10-06T20:29:46Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > I don’t see that that was the case. He drove **125 MILES** before he stopped. If it were me, I would have tried to stop as soon as possible; I wouldn’t wait until a toll booth came up and then all of a sudden decide to stop. Not just a tool booth but a empty stretch of highway, too. > [@](#): > > _You’re only assuming that he thought it unsafe to stop._ Correct, and I’m not the only one making assumptions; others in this thread are assuming that he’s a speed demon looking for excuse. We don’t really have any proof one way or the other execept Renault’s claim that there was nothing wrong with the car. But are _they_ telling the truth? What we need is a report from an independent entity. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/42 "2004-10-06T21:36:59Z")
Question: Why couldn’t he put the car into neutral? Judging from this pic here:[http://www.renault.com/img/gamme/images/velsatis\_int4.jpg](http://www.renault.com/img/gamme/images/velsatis_int4.jpg) , the car’s auto box has a standard PRND layout with an additional position for sequential changes. Nothing extraordinary. The driver has some explaining to do. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/43 "2004-10-07T02:38:13Z")
I am also having a hard time buying that he could not turn off the engine bit. So just how does this work, When they built the car they started it at the factory, shipped to the dealer idling, you buy it and have to leave the piece of shit running the entire time you own it? Gas mileage must suck. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/44 "2004-10-07T04:41:27Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > I am also having a hard time buying that he could not turn off the engine bit. > So just how does this work, When they built the car they started it at the factory, shipped to the dealer idling, you buy it and have to leave the piece of shit running the entire time you own it? > Gas mileage must suck. LOL! 😃 To start the car, you have to insert the keycard in a slot on the dashboard. Then, you have to depress either the clutch or the brake and at the same time press the START/STOP button on the dashboard. That’s all. To turn off the engine, you have to keep the START/STOP button pressed for about 5 seconds. (removing the keycard won’t turn off the engine). If the keycard’s battery runs out of juice, then you can use the tiny key that’s hidden inside the keycard. That’s how the keycard looks like [http://www.renault.ua/img/megane2/key.jpg](http://www.renault.ua/img/megane2/key.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/45 "2004-10-07T05:19:47Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Not just a tool booth but a empty stretch of highway, too. Again, not in the article. Please don’t just make stuff up. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/46 "2004-10-07T07:15:09Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > To turn off the engine, you have to keep the START/STOP button pressed for about 5 seconds. So I don’t understand why he didn’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/47 "2004-10-07T13:00:23Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Again, not in the article. Please don’t just make stuff up. It’s in both follow up articles that I linked. The police evacuated the area around the tollbooth. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/48 "2004-10-07T13:09:37Z")
Correction: it’s in the Expactica article. > [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > So I don’t understand why he didn’t do that. Maybe he did. > [@](#): > > [The Mirror](http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14726657&method=full&siteid=50143&headline=demon-car-drove-itself-name_page.html) (Yeah, I know.) > The car slowed then stopped at Clermont Ferrand when Dequiedt, on police instructions, managed to remove the magnetic card which serves as the ignition key. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/49 "2004-10-14T21:43:29Z")
Still think he’s telling the truth? [Renault sues driver of ‘runaway car’](http://straitstimes.asia1.com/latest/story/0,4390,276608-1097186340,00.html) > [@](#): > > Renault said a detailed examination of his car by an independent expert contradicted his story, and filed for a formal investigation into Mr Dequiedt’s claims. > > Renault spokesman Gerard Lochard said tests found no problems with the car’s electronics or brakes - which he said were more than powerful enough to stop the car even with the gas pedal floored. > > Mr Lochard added that the brakes would have suffered the consequences of braking at such high speeds, but the brake discs were not worn. Was there ever any doubt that this guy was full of shit? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/50 "2004-10-14T22:06:35Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Still think he’s telling the truth? If you’re addressing me, I never said he was. You, however, keep sounding like you never bothered to click on any of my links in this thread. That Forbes one in #35, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/51 "2004-10-14T23:40:02Z")
FTR, IMHO all this boils down to is a big case of he said/he said - notice how Renault’s “independent investigator” doesn’t even have a name. The only side I see as being completely honest here is the police. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/52 "2004-10-15T08:35:37Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > If you’re addressing me, I never said he was. You, however, keep sounding like you never bothered to click on any of my links in this thread. That Forbes one in #35, for example. Wow, so you already _knew_ they found nothing wrong with the car, and you _still_ believe that lying douchebag. Hey, did you hear they took “gullible” out of the dictionary? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/53 "2004-10-15T08:44:14Z")
[QUOTE=TellMeI’mNotCrazyAnd now is as good a time as any to mention that every time I see your name I read it as “Sping Ears” instead of Spin Gears, for some ungodly reason.[/QUOTE] You’re not alone, in fact, until you spelled it out, I have always wondered where he got the name “Sping Ears” and what it could mean. Derrrr ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/54 "2004-10-15T10:56:29Z")
**Lute Skywatcher** , who are you? Have you had your screenname changed recently? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/55 "2004-10-15T13:28:20Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > **Lute Skywatcher** , who are you? Have you had your screenname changed recently? 😕 I’m starting to think we should have a sticky for any name changes, because they’re so hard to keep up with. He’s **Jeff Olsen** , though. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/56 "2004-10-15T15:19:02Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Wow, so you already knew they found nothing wrong with the car, and you still believe that lying douchebag. [James Earl Jones]Do we have a learning disablity here?[/JEJ] I don’t believe him _or_ Renault and will not until there is _concrete_ evidence either way. I knew Renault _said_ nothing was found wrong with the car, which is SOP for any manufacturing company. Ford never admitted any culpability with their cruise control problems but made the recall anyway. Oldsmobile lost a suit WRT sudden accelleration and filed a countersuit. At this point, Renault’s stance sounds like the typical CYA bullshit. It would be funny if, through some miracle of miracles, The _Mirror_ is the one with the accurate account of the end of Monsieur Dequiedt’s Wild Ride. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/57 "2004-10-15T18:42:30Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [James Earl Jones]Do we have a learning disablity here?[/JEJ] Yeah, _somebody_ does. Not me, though. > [@](#): > > I don’t believe him _or_ Renault and will not until there is _concrete_ evidence either way. I knew Renault _said_ nothing was found wrong with the car, which is SOP for any manufacturing company. Ford never admitted any culpability with their cruise control problems but made the recall anyway. Oldsmobile lost a suit WRT sudden accelleration and filed a countersuit. That’s the best you’ve got? In that suit, the car accelerated 120 feet in reverse and into a tree while she was backing up. We’re talking about a guy who drove for like AN HOUR OR SO, supposedly unable to stop the car. Every year, thousands of sudden acceleration complaints are filed, and time and time again, the vast majority are found to be driver error. Funny coincidence that the Audi 5000 all of a sudden had a huge drop in reported cases of sudden acceleration right when they installed an interlock that made it impossible to shift into drive with your foot on the accelerator pedal. Duh, gee - wonder what was causing that sudden acceleration? The number of things that would have had to fail simultaneously for this guy’s story to be true is a virtual impossibility. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/58 "2004-10-15T18:57:30Z")
What’s the story on Audi 5000? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/59 "2004-10-15T19:01:24Z")
I’m wondering if somebody took out a rather large insurance policy on this guy? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686/60 "2004-10-15T19:06:32Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Yeah, somebody does. Not me, though Then stop acting so dense. > [@](#): > > \*That’s the best you’ve got? \* Nice strawman. > [@](#): > > _Every year, thousands of sudden acceleration complaints are filed, and time and time again, the vast majority are found to be driver error._ For that to be true, there must be some that _aren’t_ driver error. I’ve been saying for this _entire fucking thread_ that this _could be_ the case here. Sheesh, I feel like I’m pullin’ teeth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-drive-cars-too/267686.md?page=4)