How to Stop Runaway Vehicles (Use Brake)

[Kirk Freeman]

Finally!

Someone (Popular Mechanics) goes out and does what I have said to do for all this time--video yourself using the brake to stop a "runaway" vehicle.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOMYjiCiTYg[/ame]

Hmmm, funny how if you press the brake and not the gas the car stops unlike what tearful testimony of victim$ in front of the owners of Toyota's rivals.

Wonder what conclusions the owners of Obama Motors will draw from this? This nonsense of magic cars must be stopped.

 

[jsharmon7]

So you expect people to use common sense and take personal responsibility? Interesting concept, but I doubt it'll catch on.

 

[jeremy]

But, but... Toyota is an evil car company owned by those darn Japanese... GM and Chrysler would never make cars that fail...

 

[indykid]

CBS tried to hang Audi many years ago because of unintended acceleration until witnesses came forward saying they were behind the "out of control" car and never saw brake lights come on. Lights worked after the crash. Hard to believe people were pushing down on the gas pedal thinking it was the brake, but it turned out they were.

With the Toyotas, there many be other issues. With all the electronics in cars these days it is completely possible that if programmed wrong, if the electric throttle decided to go full, and the transmission was programmed that above a certain speed with a high throttle setting, if the driver shifted into neutral, it would be ignored figuring the driver accidently did it since he/she was "on the throttle" and moving rapidly. The jury is still out.

As for the brakes, in the first few seconds if the driver didn't push down hard enough, he/she could cause the brakes to overheat, but as proved by Car and Driver magazine months ago, and now Popular Mechanics, brakes should still be able to overpower the engine. That is why zero to 60 might be 6 seconds, but 60 to zero is about 2 to 3.

 

[topash]

Something Popular Mechanics didn't address is the brakes need to be pressed hard and not pumped. Pumping the brakes supposedly shuts the braking system down, leaving no braking because it will deplete the vacuum utilized for the power brake assist.

The thing I don't like about this whole runaway car bit is that Toyota has stated that in the event of an accident with air bag deployment, the black box in each car records the angle of deflection of both pedals along with the electronics readings for the engine including the throttle readings. Toyota claims there is only one black box reader in the US and has refused to show that black box data shows driver error. Why hide that data if it supports Toyota being in the clear?

 

[TheLoneRaider]

I would mash the brakes, slam it in park, pull e-brake turn car off take key out of ignition. A ruined trans and blown engine is better than being in a crash.

 

[tenring]

How about turning ignition key off? Too simple?

 

[bigiron]

i would imagine the majority of people buying and driving the prius and like vehicles are probably a little short on common sense already. before you all tee off on me because your wife, or worse yet you drive one, think about it. while the prius may be economcal to dive most mechanically inclined people wouldn't own one and i would venture to say you would be had pressed to find an owner on a forum like INGO. thats no excuse for a car to fail but in the event it did these drivers wouldn't have a clue what to do and panic would insue. buy a silverado!

 

[Jack Ryan]

How about turning ignition key off? Too simple?

Apparently many Toyota drivers lack the facilities to comprehend it.

 

[hornadylnl]

Apparently many Toyota drivers lack the facilities to comprehend it.

The majority voted for Obama. I'm sure not all Obama voters drive Toyotas.

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

I am ashamed to call some people 'countrymen' - for various reasons.

Facepalm: when expressing how stupid someone is acting in words is impossible.

I'd rather drive an old Buick than a new Toyota, but I'd still trust a new Toyota over a new General Motors.

 

[Panama]

i would imagine the majority of people buying and driving the prius and like vehicles are probably a little short on common sense already. before you all tee off on me because your wife, or worse yet you drive one, think about it. while the prius may be economcal to dive most mechanically inclined people wouldn't own one and i would venture to say you would be had pressed to find an owner on a forum like INGO. thats no excuse for a car to fail but in the event it did these drivers wouldn't have a clue what to do and panic would insue. buy a silverado!

Funny as HELL!
AND 100% correct!
Only departure, or you could buy an F150 !

 

[T-rav]

Funny as HELL!
AND 100% correct!
Only departure, or you could buy an F150 !

Hell yea buy a ford!

On another note this is exactly why I hate a electronic throttle. Give me a good ol cable.

 

[hornadylnl]

My 07 Harley Ultra has a throttle cable. In 08, they went to throttle by wire on the Ultra. I'm not sure if all Harley's are throttle by wire now or not. The cableless throttle isn't something limited to Toyota. There are problems with either set up. The cable could stick or the electronics could go haywire.

 

[printcraft]

I'd be lying if I said that fly by wire on a car didn't freak me out a little.
Too many thoughts of technology failing, I just never warmed up to the idea.

Mechanical issues on the Toyota aside, if someone can't get one stopped
hit neutral or switch off the key, they are not in control of the vehicle to begin with.

 

[indykid]

Some of the cars involved had that wonderful pushbutton ignition. The problem with Toyota's is that you have to hold the button down for four seconds before it believes you that you want to turn the engine off. They figure one quick jab to the button is an error.

If you just punch the button, it will ignore you. There are some cars programmed that if you quickly push the button 3 times in close succession it will believe you and turn the engine off.

Figuring the way Toyota figures the transmission, I would guess that with an ignition key at high speed and with high throttle setting, it would figure you accidently turned the ignition off and ignore you. See my post above about moving the shift selector out of drive.

 

[amboran]

Some of the cars involved had that wonderful pushbutton ignition. The problem with Toyota's is that you have to hold the button down for four seconds before it believes you that you want to turn the engine off. They figure one quick jab to the button is an error.

If you just punch the button, it will ignore you. There are some cars programmed that if you quickly push the button 3 times in close succession it will believe you and turn the engine off.

Figuring the way Toyota figures the transmission, I would guess that with an ignition key at high speed and with high throttle setting, it would figure you accidently turned the ignition off and ignore you. See my post above about moving the shift selector out of drive.

Another reason why I prefer manual trannys I select the gear-(neutral if need be)I am the driver(not a computer)

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

#1 reason I would never buy an automatic car.
#2 i would never buy a car with throttle by wire
#3 i don't know what I'm going to do when my current car runs no longer.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

Some of the cars involved had that wonderful pushbutton ignition. The problem with Toyota's is that you have to hold the button down for four seconds before it believes you that you want to turn the engine off. They figure one quick jab to the button is an error.

If you just punch the button, it will ignore you. There are some cars programmed that if you quickly push the button 3 times in close succession it will believe you and turn the engine off.

Figuring the way Toyota figures the transmission, I would guess that with an ignition key at high speed and with high throttle setting, it would figure you accidently turned the ignition off and ignore you. See my post above about moving the shift selector out of drive.

It has to be programmed to not shut off until held down for a certain time.

Think about it for a minute, just pressing the button would shut it off, now get back to me when you have thought about why it's not a good idea.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Turning the ignition off ain't the best/brightest idea.

When you do that, you have VERY limited assisted braking and assisted steering..might need that stuff "powered" for longer than the few seconds you generally have.

Just like the video, you've got to mash the break pedal. And if your vehicle has the "sissy stick", then a quick bump into neutral.

These two things together will stop the car in short order.

I'd say that unless you're driving a street-legal race car, that EVERY car sold today, and probably within the last 25 years, has brakes that'll overcome a wide-open throttle every time. (barring extremely worn or malfunctioning brakes...)

As unfortunate as these auto accidents have been, I'd bet that ALL of them would've been preventable with just a little common sense. *sigh*

-J-