Runaway car - Is this feasible?

I'm more inclined to think human glitch. I've worked with humans long enough to suspect one. No human is ever bug free. Some of the Airbus problems I'd guess are human also.
 
Just to add to this, I had a brake failure in a Lexus a couple of years ago, I was going down a long mountainside road at the time, fortunately after the hairpin bends, when I touched the brakes, nothing, except a very very solid pedal. I literally had to stand on them to make any impression on my speed at all. This , of course, with no stuck throttle, but on a very steep incline. I survived, obviously. On investigation of the problem later I found the vacuum servo had snapped a bolt on a shaft that held the diaphragm. This is a fault that I had never come across in all my working life as a mechanic and garage owner. So, while I think this guy was lying, there is a niggling doubt that there just might be something that has slipped past all the design checks.
 
a_unique_person said:
According to reports.

He called Ford and the Police. They advised him to turn off the ignition, and put the car into neutral. The software over rode his ability to do so. He could not put it into neutral, nor turn off the ignition. He was talking to them and doing what they said. I can't believe it was something to dodge a fine, he nearly lost his life.
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It's amazing how people can panic and get themselves into thinking that being caught lying is worse than anything else that could happen to them.
 
Kestrel said:
Doesn't turning the key off also lock the steering column?
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Every car I've ever owned with a steering column lock had a key position that turns off the engine without locking the steering. On many, if not all, you have to push a button or lever to get the key to go to the steering lock position. My current vehicle, a 2005 Jeep Liberty with automatic, will not allow me to lock the steering unless the shifter is in Park. I had a stuck throttle once, not wide open but maybe half open (frayed cable) and managed it by shutting of the ignition.

ETA: The stuck throttle was not on the Jeep. It was on a 1973 IH Scout II. It had a stranded wire cable for a throttle linkage. The cable frayed, and got stuck in the guide tube. Bad design, IMO.
 
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screensnot said:
Obviously not. But many people weren't buying the stuck floor mat explanation. There were claims from Toyota/Lexus owners that they had unexpected acceleration when no floor mats were in the car.

Any car built in the US (don't know about other countries), within the last 50 years or so, has a mandatory safety feature that keeps the steering wheel from locking, if you turn the key off in an emergency.

For example, an automatic transmission has an interlock that won't let the key turn far enough to lock the steering, unless the car is in park. For manual trans, you also have to push a button, in order to turn the key far enough to lock the steering.
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Well, steering locks didn't become common on American made cars until the late '60's. Prior to that, most had ignition locks mounted on the dashboard. Most of these were ridiculously easy to hot-wire.
 
GreyICE said:
Many people in the general public are absolutely unaware that you can shift to neutral or turn off the engine while the car is in motion
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In fact, on my car (an automatic), you can shift from drive to neutral without even squeezing the button. In an emergency situation, all you need to do is slam it forward. And by NOT pressing the button, you guarantee that you won't accidentally overshoot to reverse or park. I haven't tried this out on other cars, but I suspect it's probably common now for automatics.
 
CORed said:
Well, steering locks didn't become common on American made cars until the late '60's. Prior to that, most had ignition locks mounted on the dashboard. Most of these were ridiculously easy to hot-wire.
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My parents used to have a '62 Chevy Impala. It got stolen once but eventually recovered. The thief had installed a button under the dashboard to automate the process of hotwiring it, and it never got removed. On really cold days, if the car had problems starting, sometimes it would help to turn the key AND press the hotwire button at the same time.
 
Ziggurat said:
In fact, on my car (an automatic), you can shift from drive to neutral without even squeezing the button. In an emergency situation, all you need to do is slam it forward. And by NOT pressing the button, you guarantee that you won't accidentally overshoot to reverse or park. I haven't tried this out on other cars, but I suspect it's probably common now for automatics.
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Automatic gearboxes shouldn't engage park or reverse while the car is moving forward, anyway. The Mythbusters tried it a few years back. Changed to reverse and to park while travelling at 50mph. It had the exact same effect as just putting it in neutral. That whole "and then, I put it in "R" for "race" and the engine blew up!" is just a funny story.
 
a_unique_person said:
Except that he obviously knows how to put his foot on the brake. With cruise control, that's all it should take.
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True, but I would put a very strong emphasis on "should". There have been confirmed reports of cruise control failing to disengage in cars of different makers, sometimes with very bad results.
 
An automatic transmission has a fail-safe built into the valve body that will not allow reverse to engage at speed. When "rocking" a stuck vehicle, you can however engage reverse when the vehicle is still moving forward under its own momentum. This is a bad idea, as it puts stress on the sprags and output shaft.

Park is a purely mechanical system, as opposed to the other selections which are hydraulic. There is a rod that pushes a spring-loaded pawl into a lugged gear at the rear of the transmission. When you attempt to select "park" at speed, the pawl just ratchets across the lugs, wearing down the pawl. Once you have slowed to a crawl, the pawl will eventually lock into place and stop the vehicle. Do not try to shift into park until the vehicle is completely stationary, as the sudden force on the lugs can break the rear annulus gear.
 
Sir Robin Goodfellow said:
An automatic transmission has a fail-safe built into the valve body that will not allow reverse to engage at speed. When "rocking" a stuck vehicle, you can however engage reverse when the vehicle is still moving forward under its own momentum. This is a bad idea, as it puts stress on the sprags and output shaft.

Park is a purely mechanical system, as opposed to the other selections which are hydraulic. There is a rod that pushes a spring-loaded pawl into a lugged gear at the rear of the transmission. When you attempt to select "park" at speed, the pawl just ratchets across the lugs, wearing down the pawl. Once you have slowed to a crawl, the pawl will eventually lock into place and stop the vehicle. Do not try to shift into park until the vehicle is completely stationary, as the sudden force on the lugs can break the rear annulus gear.
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If I am in an emergency situation with a jammed throttle, the structural integrity of the rear annulus gear is not going to enter into my consideration.
Nor will I be too upset at watching pistons exit through the hood...
 
Ziggurat said:
In fact, on my car (an automatic), you can shift from drive to neutral without even squeezing the button. In an emergency situation, all you need to do is slam it forward. And by NOT pressing the button, you guarantee that you won't accidentally overshoot to reverse or park. I haven't tried this out on other cars, but I suspect it's probably common now for automatics.
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It's the same on my parents, and every other auto I've been in for at least 15 years (and given my dad used to work for Ford and now works for Kia, that's rather a large number)
 
rwguinn said:
If I am in an emergency situation with a jammed throttle, the structural integrity of the rear annulus gear is not going to enter into my consideration.
Nor will I be too upset at watching pistons exit through the hood...
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Agreed, but park will not stop your vehicle at highway speed. It's more like at about ten KMPH when careless drivers attempt to engage park and find themselves $2000 poorer.

A better idea in an hypothetical runaway situation would be to manually downshift to low, to take advantage of engine braking when your applying the park brake and standing on the service brakes slow the vehicle enough to get the transmission to grab first gear.
 
A conceivable scenario is that the driver is too timid with the brakes.

While a full panic application would stop a car with a racing engine, applying a small amount of braking would allow the car to increase speed while heating up the brakes. Soon the driver would have to stop a faster car with less braking capacity.

I doubt that modern driving classes teach students to 'pump' their brakes. 40 years ago we learned to push the pedal, then ease off and let the brakes cool. It was necessary with drum style front brakes, less so with discs due to better cooling. Anyway, discs can overheat. If a driver only applies enough pressure to prevent further acceleration, then later the car still has as much energy (as momentum), and hot brakes too.

I only ever faded my brakes one time, drum brakes and a long hill. 18 years old then. Learned to pump them that day. Hate anti-lock systems. When I pump while they let off, trouble ensues. Better for an experienced driver to be in charge than a computer 'proxie'.
 
Don't pump anti-lock brakes. Just step on them. The idea is that you can still steer while braking.

Modern driving lessons have not caught up with technology. Some instructors still tell you to hold the wheel at "ten and two", but that's no longer best, as airbags have made that advice obsolete. A "nine and three" grip will lessen the chance of injury should the airbag deploy. Some driving manuals do not even take into account power-assisted steering and braking systems, though they've been commonplace for thirty years.
 
You must not attempt to use the brakes to control the speed of a runaway vehicle. The brakes will overheat and fade to uselessness if you attempt this.

You must get on the brakes hard the first time and stay on them hard to stop the vehicle. Any attempt to merely control the speed will not end well.

If your vehicle has brake assist, the computer should detect your attempt at a panic stop and apply the maximum braking force possible, even if you aren't doing so with your feet. Brake assist relieves you of the need to press extra hard on the brakes in trying to stop your car quickly.
 
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