BMW driver with stuck gas pedal......

[Cranky]

Is there is reason why you can't just turn the dang key off????

http://abcnews.go.com/US/gas-pedal-stuck-man-tells-911-barrels-interstate/story?id=53044686

 

[Sonny Black]

1. Stay calm and try not to panic.
2. Push the brake firmly with both feet and hold it down. ...
3. Shift the car into neutral. ...
4. Do not initially turn off the engine unless shifting into neutral is unsuccessful.
5. Turn off the ignition when you no longer need to change direction.

 

[MarPar]

1. Stay calm and try not to panic.
2. Push the brake firmly with both feet and hold it down. ...
3. Shift the car into neutral. ...
4. Do not initially turn off the engine unless shifting into neutral is unsuccessful.

And there you have it. Common Sense.

 

[Sonny Black]

mar, I just looked on line...........................................................
I am not that smart...lol
also.....last,

1. Turn off the ignition when you no longer need to change direction.

 

[Cranky]

WHAAAAATTTT????

 

[ws27]

I like that BMW called BS on it.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Could this be a practice run for Skynet??

 

[Budnicks]

Could this be a practice run for Skynet??

 

[Budnicks]

Drive by wire shut off the engine, the computer should shut down
just don't do anything to make it lock the steering
most cars with electronic assist steering will still steer
& your brakes will still work too...

I'd have tried it at-least...
The guy on the recording was an idiot...

 

[69a100]

Why anyone would buy, let a lone drive a car that has a computer controlled throttle is beyond me. I'd never buy a car like that, give me hard wired/cabled, or it's time for me to take a walk. None of that crap for me thank you!

 

[beanhead]

... so he drove 40 miles with a stuck accelerator?! They need to send the guy a bill for wasting the time and money of all those emergency services... He had to have just been screwing with them...
(haven't all vehicles produced in the last 15 to 20 years been built with electronic throttles? I know my '04 Dodge is...)

 

[Richard Cranium]

Why anyone would buy, let a lone drive a car that has a computer controlled throttle is beyond me. I'd never buy a car like that, give me hard wired/cabled, or it's time for me to take a walk. None of that crap for me thank you!

Most all new cars are like that.

 

[WileERobby]

He's either stupid, or a liar. Take your pick.

 

[HawkRod]

So I'm thinking the same thing: He must be an idiot. How in the hell could you not do something to disable it???

But then I started thinking about most cars now. There is a button to turn it off. Nothing mechanical, it tells a computer to turn it off. The key fob can start the car as well. Transmissions does not physically go into gear, again, it is a button that then ultimately connects to a servo. The accelerator is drive by wire.

Now having said the above, I have to believe there are so many safety systems built into the cars, I can't understand how it would happen. Plus, brakes pushed down hard should be able to overwhelm the engine anyway.

So I guess I talked myself back into the idiot part!!!

 

[honcho]

Can't fix stupid

 

[khryslerkid]

When I was 18, I was driving a customer's Lincoln with a 460, back to the dealership. Waiting at a intersection I pressed down on the gas and the SOB took off. I had both feet on the brake, tires smoking and it was working its way out into the middle of traffic. First thing I thought was to turn off the key! Restarted it in park and idled it the rest of the way to the dealer. (Broken motor mount)
Scared the sh!t out of me but I was smart enough to turn off the key.

 

[Dennis H]

Moron. Brakes will overpower.

 

[steve from staten island]

I had a GM pickup with a 6.2 diesel. Truck was loaded most times. I had what i thought was a problem with the accelerator pedal linkage, it would bind getting at a point were it was hard to press down on pedal, or so i thought. I was on the highway going up a gradual sloping hill, not steep. I pressed on pedal to maintain my 50 MPH speed as the pedal suddenly went wide open. The truck was far from fast but before i could even react i was at 60 and climbing. I got over 60MPH and tried to pull pedal up but no good. Now i was over 65, at this point i shut off ignition and coasted to shoulder. Got out and freed up linkage and limped home. The problem had been the injection pump internally.
Point is this was a pickup hauling a good load. Had it been anything else, not even to think a modern fast car id been in a situation were i would have been doing a much higher speed. Situations like that require not getting into a panic and maintaining control. You would hope most would not panic and do as Sonny said. But i will tell you unless you've experienced it firsthand it can be unnerving not to have that control.

 

[YY1]

even if you have throttle by wire and keyless ignition...

...neutral...

 

[J5 GTX]

Had the throttle stick open on a 1980 Datsun 310. All 65 h.p. unleashed. A few harrowing seconds later it unstuck.
About 25 years ago, a lady driving down I-95 near the NC, SC border had a stuck accelerator pedal. She called 911. A trooper got in front of her and tried to use his car to stop hers. She panicked and went around him. Claimed she tried to shut off the ignition but the engine kept running. She eventually ran off the road into the median and rolled the car. The incident was dramatized on some TV program.