I would like to add that the handbrake usually works on a separate cable, and most of the times even works when power brakes etc. have failed.
But the steer lock IS a big downside of just switching off the engine, although it need not engage if you switch off and immediately turn the key to the “ON” position again. Without hitting “START”, that is.
If all fails, I would still choose slipping it into neutral. Better to let it rev for what, 30 seconds untill standstill?
The engine can probably take that sort of abuse for a short period of time.
It should be possible to turn the car off, then back on, without starting it, to unlock the steering wheel. Not something I’ve ever tried while driving down the highway, but it’s got to be better than racing out of control at 100 mph. Isn’t there also a gear shift on the car? Putting the car in neutral should solve the problem as well.
This is a very good point - there is a danger of the steering locking if you turn the wheel too much from straight with the key at “OFF” completely in some cars. In my cars, there is a seperate position of “Lock” and “Off”, but I know in some cars “OFF” locks the wheel as well. So one would have to be careful. However I still think that if you are going straight down the road, one could turn it to “OFF” and then back to “ON” safely in a few seconds time.
How fast can an MG Midget actually get to with a stuck accelerator? I imagine you could get out of the car, and run ahead of it to warn people to get out of the way also. (Sorry, couldn’t resist)
The thing to remember with cars like the MG, is that they may not actually go very fast - but they always feel like they are! I sold the MG shortly after sitting in it, eye level with the axles of lorries and wondering whether the lorry driver would even notice me.
When I had a 1982 VW Vanagon Diesel, the pedal would take its time getting back up when it was cold out. It didn’t stick down completely, but it freaked me out until I learned to lift up a few seconds before I wanted to slow down or shift. Luckily my transmission was in good enough shape that I could shift at full throttle… with 4500 lbs of camper van and only 49 hp of engine, I was at full throttle pretty often.
try it sometime…the car will start right the hell back up at that speed. You can actually push start an automatic at 50 mph or so, and thats what it does. I had it happen to me going through a mountain pass in Utah, in a Chevy truck. luckily it vibrated itself loose, otherwise I would have shifted into neutril and let the engine blow.
The car I learned to drive was a 1972 Toyota Corolla. I had the accelerator stick onit once. What happened was that the pedal went through the floorboard and it caught on the floorboard. My sister and I were goong out to get supper when I went around acorner and it stuck. I had my foot on no pedals and it kept going. Luckily there was no traffic in the intersection I zoomed through. I ended up in a local elementary school parking lot, where I turned the motor off and I stopped. I don’t remember what I had for supper, but it wasn’t from a restaurant. When the mechanic looked at it the pedal mechanism had bent and it was binded (bound?) on the floorboard. I didn’t feel like driving for a month or two after that.
Keith
It’s interesting to hear from those with truly stuck accelerators, but I got to watch the opposite case first-hand. I’m convinced that this is what happens in virtually every case that I’ve heard of involving elderly people…
I was sitting in the passenger seat while my grandfather was preparing to back out of a parking space. For no real reason other than chance, I was turned and looking directly at him when he began to pull out - everything happened quickly, but I got to see all of it.
He intended to back out, but had inadvertently put the car in “drive”. He gave the car a little gas - it would have been perfect if he had actually been in reverse. When the car went forward instead of backwards, he was startled, and reflexively shot for the brake. But he didn’t move his foot far enough, and hit the accelerator even harder.
We shot forward, and in his panic he stomped his foot to the floor - somewhere in his brain still thinking that he had his foot on the brake. We crashed throught he side of a building and stopped moving only when we hit something solid. The tires were still spinning and spewing out smoke.
I reached over and turned off the key. Nobody was hurt, and after we all recovered a bit from the shock he claimed that his accelerator had stuck. Nobody had the heart to point out to him that 1) the car shouldn’t have been in “drive” to begin with, and 2) there was no possible reason for the accelerator to be pressed to the floor to even be able to get stuck in that position.
Every case involving an elderly person that I’ve heard of since then fits this scenario exactly. It’s a cascade of mistakes set in motion by the first error of getting into “drive” when you meant to be in “reverse”. A younger person has the reflexes prevent it from going this far.
Heh, heh. Charizard, I once did a very similar thing–I launched a 911 off of a set of ramps by mashing the accelerator while in first gear (I too thought I was in reverse, but I didn’t have the excuse of being elderly). Fortunately, there was no damage. I could easily have hurt that car to the tune of a year’s worth of salary.
The dealership I worked for also sold Audis. One evening after a NSO show at Wolf Trap (where drinking isn’t just allowed, it’s encouraged) some guy ran his Audi 5000 through a number of departing showgoers, hurting several and smashing another car, IIRC. I showed up just after it happened. The police were already on the scene because they were directing traffic. My car was parked in the same general area, and I could see this flushed middle-aged guy vociferously explaining that his car “just took off.”
I got the attention of one of the police officers and explained that I worked for an Audi dealership, and asked if I could have a look at the car or call in some of my mechanic friends–before they towed away the car. Up to that time, to my knowledge, nobody who remotely understood Audis had been anywhere near an “unintended accelleration” incident, and this looked like a good chance to get a look at the car before it had been tampered with too much. No dice. So, I asked the cop to check to see what gear the car was in, and if the emergency brake was deployed. He wandered over to the car, looked in the open driver’s door, came back to me with a peculiar look on his face and suggested I move along like he meant it. I don’t know why, and I don’t know what made him look so strange.
Not only were the gas and brake pedals close together, German style, but on some of the manual versions, the gearshift had to be physically pushed down so that it would slide into the reverse gate. I think a lot of Audis that were supposed to be in reverse wound up in fourth, and jumped forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if that cop noticed the same thing. At any rate, the story made a couple local papers for one day, and I never heard about it again.
Unintended Acceleration is a hoax. Many of the people interviewed in the 80’s claimed the car “flew” forward with the brake pedal fully depressed. What bunk! I had a Cutlass with a 450hp/625lb-ft (at the wheels, no less!) 455 cid engine and with both pedals fully depressed, all it could manage was a smoky crawl at best. Several friends had cars with “Line-Lok” devices which hold full pressure on the front brakes even after lifting the pedal. With full throttle, those cars would barely move with the Line-Lok engaged.
I find it impossible to believe a ~200hp Audi could outperform our old muscle cars in that regard.
In Brighton, MA, a gas station attendentwas run over an killed by and Audi 5000. The driver claimed “sudden” acceleration. I don’t know what happened, but I remember that for several years you couldn’t GIVE away an Audi
I had an ‘unintended acceleration’ incident once, back in the mid-late 80’s when I was learning to drive with our Taurus station wagon. I was easing the car into a parking space (with nothing around for miles, thank Dao), when I pressed down on the wrong pedal. Realizing that I was now shooting forward, but still thinking my foot was on the brake, I pressed harder, sending my mother and I halfway across the parking lot. She cursed me out (rightfully so) and I learned my lesson. Of course, when she did the same thing a week later, she didn’t have much to say.
Still, we were both honest about what had happened: we pressed the wrong pedal, panicked, then pressed harder. Around this time (although I can’t remember exactly when, sorry), there was an accident during a parade in Boston in which the driver of a non-Audi pickup truck (pulling a float), accidentally ran over and killed at least one young chlid. He also claimed that the truck “just took off by itself.” Mom and I remained unconvinced.
It should be noted that 2 professional race car drivers, Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin, were both killed this summer on the same track in New Hampshire. The cause of both deaths? Stuck accelerators.
Race cars these days mostly have fly-by-wire accelerators. I have no idea which class these guys drove in, but there may be a misunderstanding here.
Due to the fact that race cars drive full throttle mostly, and make a lot of revs, thus producing a lot of heat, it is possible for the gas cable to get stuck in full-throttle position. This does not mean the PEDAL is stuck though. The engine just goes flat out, even after lifting off the accelerator. This sort of thing happens in F1 a couple of times a year, and these cars ALL have fly-by-wire accelerators.
Sofa King: the Audi 5000 (I think this was the Audi 200 in Europe) may be quite a powerful car, but when you think you’re in reverse and you’re actually in 4th, it will most likely stall. Unless you’re releasing the clutch whilst reving 5000 RPM, of course - but that’s unlikely for a parking manoeuver, right?
Also, I seem to remember that Audis usually have the reverse right next to 1st. You have to press the lever downward, then push left and up - just like Volkswagens (same group, shared parts, most likely). But I could be wrong there. However: getting a manual shift to drive off in 4th may be possible, but only when reving a LOT. And even then, it won’t rocket off through walls straightaway. It’ll be slow as hell.
That’s not exactly clear. What I mean (and I’m not a technician, obviously) is that the gas can be stuck at full throttle because of something getting stuck in the accelerator mechanism, but WITHIN the engine compartment. The pedal may be fully up at the same time. Goes for both analog and FBW systems.
The “stuck accelerator” happened to me twice on my old Astro. She would just start revving for no reason. I finally figured out that it was the cruise acting screwy; it was going into “resume” by itself. Solved that problem by remembering to shut the cruise off completely when getting off the highway.
I had a similar problem in an old Saab. I accelerated to overtake, and the revs stayed high - no matter what I did to the pedal. I put the car in neutral, stopped and switched off the engine. Part of the mechanical linkage on the accelerator cable had come loose, and was jamming the throttle open. Easy to fix - once I had stopped.
Sorry to dissapoint you, Europe-boy, but they were NASCAR. Standard sheathed cable linkage to the throttle lever on the side of the carburetor (yeah, you read that right. A carburetor. :)).
NASCAR. Where fat hicks can feel like Arie Luyendijk
Just kidding. I’m sure it’s really hard to drive a souped up Camaro around an oval track. No, really.
My point was actually that a stuck accelerator mechanism (i.e. wihtin the engine compartment, with a visibly undeployed accelerator pedal inside the car) can happen with either FBW and conventional systems, since the error doesn’t HAVE to be the pedal itself.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist)
