http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/08/18/news/doc4e4d39a1ac6e9196564613.txt
Police in the city of Roseville, MI got calls from motorists about a driver in the suburbs of Detroit who was using his foot to try to stop his car in traffic. The article includes video from the in-car camera of the guy doing this. Amazingly, alcohol was apparently NOT involved. In the process, he hit 4 different cars along the way.
A foot out the door produces negligible force to slow a moving vehicle. I think the foot action was more of an animated wish.
If it were a standard transmission, one could do a lot of slowing down by gearing down, but that is limited to slowing, not stopping. If you had a really old automatic, like a Fordomatic, you could even use reverse at low speed to brake the vehicle. Then maybe the emergency brake functioned somewhat too, yet was not complete enough for a full stop. It’s dumb to drive without brakes, but there could be a partial explanation as to what the driver intended. One thing he did wrong right off the bat was to admit a bunch of stuff to the police. Never talk to the police.
One things for sure. He didn’t get off on the right foot with them (unless he had a British car).
Reminds me of the time I saw folks using a parachute to slow down their pickup.
Ha! I saw that on the news this morning (I’m also in Michigan) - what an idiot. In a full-sized pickup truck no less.
Last summer a brake line ruptured on my work truck, and I did manage to get it home safely. But it was Sunday, I wasn’t far from home, I used side streets, and the truck is a standard-shift so by staying in low gear, driving ridiculously slowly and using the parking brake, I was able to drift back to my house.
Watching that video…it really seemed the driver was being reckless, stupid and not even making an attempt to get home safely.