What to do if your accelerator gets stuck. PSA

safeinthecar · Mar 9, 2010

Since there was a case of a run-away Prius in the news today, I thought I would share a tip.

If your accelerator should get stuck, look for a safe place to coast to a stop, shift into neutral and brake steadily to a stop. Don't panic and slam on your brakes or you could lose control. Do Not turn off your engine until you have come to a complete stop, as you may lose power steering. If you can't turn off your engine once you are stopped, get out of the car and move to a safe location several feet away.

tjham · Mar 9, 2010

Good tip - I was just reading this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35783011/ns/business-autos/

safeinthecar · Mar 9, 2010

tjham said:
Good tip - I was just reading this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35783011/ns/business-autos/

I hadn't seen that. I took an emergency driving course as a teen and stuck accelerator was on of the topics covered. (along with swerves, spins etc.)

shellebelle · Mar 10, 2010

safeinthecar said:
Since there was a case of a run-away Prius in the news today, I thought I would share a tip.

I actually laughed when I heard this...I've never seen a Prius top 65.

And adding onto this - have a Bluetooth headset within reach. This happened in my county so of course the media is all over it. The driver said that he kept dropping the phone while talking to the 911 operator, and of course you need both hands to maintain control of the car and to attempt to disable it.

LISmama810 · Mar 10, 2010

I often topped 80 in my Prius without even realizing it. They CAN go fast, but there's something about driving one that makes one obsessive about gas mileage, so most people tend to drive slower.

Auntie2Avi · Mar 10, 2010

LISmama810 said:
I often topped 80 in my Prius without even realizing it.

:yeahthat:

When I'm driving my mom's prius I have no problem getting up to 80 without realizing how fast I was driving. I am paranoid about getting a speeding ticket so I try not to go above 70, but it is easy to go faster and not realize IMO.

MomE · Mar 10, 2010

That's all good in theory. But the runaway Prius in San Diego shredded it's brakes trying to stop. Braking isn't working on these things! The driver had use his ebrake and rely on the mountainous road to slow down...and the officer put his or her car in front of the Prius too.

That's why this situation is so scary. And I drive a Toyota! Scary!

Guest · Mar 10, 2010

The not panicking is the hard part. There was some study done and in emergency situations, people can't remember to do that stuff unless they've trained and trained on it.

And my experiences with Prius drivers seems to be they're among the faster drivers out there. Weaving and stuff too. Like they bought the thing to be trendy and "green" but aren't really that concerned about minimizing gas useage. They might do a little cuz the screen makes it fun to do so, but they still have lots of bad habits during commute hours.

safeinthecar · Mar 10, 2010

MomE said:
That's all good in theory. But the runaway Prius in San Diego shredded it's brakes trying to stop. Braking isn't working on these things! The driver had use his ebrake and rely on the mountainous road to slow down...and the officer put his or her car in front of the Prius too.

The funny thing though, is the 911 operator told him to shift into neutral, but he couldn't hold the phone, steer the car, and shift at the same time. It never occurred to him to just let go of the phone. Thinking through these things ahead of time, playing it over in your head, may make the difference between panicking and staying in control of the situation.

I spun out on black ice several years ago on a narrow mountain road. There was no guard rails and a 40 foot drop not 5 inches beyond the yellow line. I had practiced how to control a spin countless times and I just reacted automatically. By the time I realized I was spinning, my dad was yelling instructions in my head and I was already correcting.

TechnoGranola · Mar 10, 2010

safeinthecar said:
The funny thing though, is the 911 operator told him to shift into neutral, but he couldn't hold the phone, steer the car, and shift at the same time. It never occurred to him to just let go of the phone.

Apparently when the cop pulled up beside him he was again told to put it into neutral and he wouldn't because he thought the car would flip. (according to this article http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gc_pIFqke7WxQovY3MnhcyIYiLgwD9EBR7HG0)

safeinthecar · Mar 10, 2010

TechnoGranola said:
Apparently when the cop pulled up beside him he was again told to put it into neutral and he wouldn't because he thought the car would flip. (according to this article http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gc_pIFqke7WxQovY3MnhcyIYiLgwD9EBR7HG0)

Knowing what the different gears do should be a requirement for getting your license. Seriously.

MomE · Mar 10, 2010

Okay about neutral. But my point was the brakes weren't working. And the officer said he smelled and saw shredded brakes. That's my point. Shift into neutral all you want, just hope you aren't going downhill. You still gotta find a way to slow down, and the brakes weren't working!

safeinthecar · Mar 10, 2010

MomE said:
Okay about neutral. But my point was the brakes weren't working. And the officer said he smelled and saw shredded brakes. That's my point. Shift into neutral all you want, just hope you aren't going downhill. You still gotta find a way to slow down, and the brakes weren't working!

The brakes were functioning, they just fell apart trying to compete with the acceleration. Under normal engine conditions, applying the break automatically shifts the car into neutral and disengages the engine from the drive train. The problem in this incident is that the engine kept spinning the wheels and burned through the brake pads. If you shifted into neutral (thus manually disconnecting the engine from the wheels) at the first sign of trouble, before you wear out the brakes, you would take the forward momentum out of the equation and be able to apply the brakes under normal conditions.

TechnoGranola · Mar 10, 2010

safeinthecar said:
The brakes were functioning, they just fell apart trying to compete with the acceleration. Under normal engine conditions, applying the break automatically shifts the car into neutral and disengages the engine from the drive train. The problem in this incident is that the engine kept spinning the wheels and burned through the brake pads.

Yes, Toyota currently doesn't put the engine into idle when the brake is pressed, so in this case it kept running at full tilt. Supposedly they are going to make the design change so that the engine DOES go into idle when the brake is pressed. :thumbsup:

MomE · Mar 10, 2010

safeinthecar said:
The brakes were functioning, they just fell apart trying to compete with the acceleration.

Understood. I actually put this together just after I posted.

Now there's the issue of what to do when you don't have time and space to stop. Like the driver in New York who ran into a stone wall. I live in a highly populated area. So I'm never any place where there aren't other cars or I'm not passing through intersection after intersection. So even though I can put the car in neutral, I'm still probably gonna run into something.

Guest · Mar 10, 2010

A lot of companies don't have the engine disengage when you step on the brake. That's how car magazines get the acceleration times they do on automatic cars. You hold the brake, rev the engine, then let the brakes go. I don't see that as a problem. Shoot, I don't want them to change things so that's what happens. It takes away an option I have in case of a driving emergency. It's like the traction controls right now that cut power completely if it senses a slip. Quite scary when that happens on a slick road and you're trying to cross a busy intersection.

I've seen brief mentions of people claiming the car won't shift to neutral, but I haven't seen any good witness accounts of it.

The two stories mentioned in this post don't seem to have tried it. One was too scared to shift to neutral. The other hit a wall before they could figure out what to do. So far, while the stuck accelerator is a Toyota problem, these two stories just scream crappy driver. Not necessarily their fault. Our driving tests are just way too easy. It's just a wild guess, but I'm guessing that 70% of people in America with a license wouldn't have one, based on their current skill level, if they had to take, say, the German or UK driving test.

I think something as simple as requiring people to learn how to drive a stick before they get a license would cut down the majority of these Toyota crashes.

SafeDad · Mar 10, 2010

tjham said:
Good tip - I was just reading this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35783011/ns/business-autos/

Woohoo now I can find out the top speed of DW's Prius and get a police escort doing it!

jen_nah · Mar 10, 2010

Like I stated in my post a few days ago this is going to get a lot bigger and going to affect a lot more Toyota/Lexus models then they have listed in the recall.

SafeDad · Mar 11, 2010

Of course it is. And, it will go far beyond realistic levels because of human psychology. Now, everyone who puts a foot on the wrong pedal will be creating bad publicity and blaming it on faulty accelerators. People will pile on because they have heard about the problems and assume their cars are faulty, too, even if they are not. It's actually too bad. Toyota employs a lot of people in the USA and has sponsored some nice CPS intiatives. When GM drove itself into the dumpster, the first thing to go was support for Safe Kids USA. You can pretty much be sure what will happen soon at Toyota.

MomE · Mar 11, 2010

codex57 said:
The two stories mentioned in this post don't seem to have tried it. One was too scared to shift to neutral. The other hit a wall before they could figure out what to do. So far, while the stuck accelerator is a Toyota problem, these two stories just scream crappy driver.

I highly disagree in the second case. Though I do have to say I don't have all the details. The first case I can see how insane it was that the driver wouldn't shift into neutral for an obviously uneducated reason. But in the two RAV cases from yesterday (?), perhaps there wasn't time.

But let me spin this scenario for you.... I pull up to my daugther's daycare, parking nose first into the parking spot. There is a sidewalk...maybe three feet wide. Then there's a metal fence. The kids all stand up against the fence, waiting for their parents to arrive, hanging onto the bars. If my car were to accelerate suddenly there wouldn't be time for me to react. Period. I'd be into that fence in a fraction of a second. Same scenario for my underground parking space with is up against a stone wall. Not even three feet away.

Last night I put my foot on the brake and my car jumped slightly forward and the engine reved like my foot was on the accelerator. It wasn't. My car did slow down though. It's a 2006 RAV, not on the recall list. I think they need to expand the recall and do it immediately. There isn't time to "investigate."

What to do if your accelerator gets stuck. PSA

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