WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF STUCK GAS PEDAL Re: Motorists KILLED due to floor mat jamming up gas pedal, including an odfficer and his family
zeez
enough wrote:
> If this happens to you, the best thing to do is throw the car in
> NEUTRAL, so you keep your power brakes and steering, failing that,
> turn off the ignition (note, the Lexus with push button Start requires
> you to hold down the button for a few seconds to shut off the engine)
RickMerrill
Bull! You will not KNOW that it is a stuck gas pedal - it COULD be that
you have pressed the pedal instead of the BRAKE. Therefore what you
should be prepared to do Immediately is to put BOTH FEET ON THE BRAKE!
Furthermore, putting the car into neutral (assuming a stuck pedal) will
cause the engine to over rev and it will soon (probably) explode!
INSTEAD switch off the engine UNLESS you need to steer!!
You will already have put both feet on the brake so you are not
concerned with loss of power brakes.
ra...@vt.edu
> zeez wrote:
> >
> > enough wrote:
> >> If this happens to you, the best thing to do is throw the car in
> >> NEUTRAL, so you keep your power brakes and steering, failing that,
> >> turn off the ignition (note, the Lexus with push button Start requires
> >> you to hold down the button for a few seconds to shut off the engine)
> Bull! You will not KNOW that it is a stuck gas pedal - it COULD be that
> you have pressed the pedal instead of the BRAKE. Therefore what you
> should be prepared to do Immediately is to put BOTH FEET ON THE BRAKE!
Well, yes, make sure you really are on the brake. Manual transmission
cars don't have a big enough brake pedal to get both feet on, but
for automatics this is good advice.
> Furthermore, putting the car into neutral (assuming a stuck pedal) will
> cause the engine to over rev and it will soon (probably) explode!
For most modern cars with fuel injection (pretty much anything less
than 20 years old) there will be a rev limiter that prevents the
engine from over-revving. Engines will not explode. They might
fail dramatically, but not literally explode.
> INSTEAD switch off the engine UNLESS you need to steer!!
Nope, get it into neutral, bring it to a stop, then switch off.
If the motor damages itself, so what?
Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.
RickMerrill
Fair enough! Red-lining the engine is not too too good for it.
One evening I saw a smoking car, parked, the driver asleep with his
foot on the throttle! (40 yrs ago, so it could have caught fire) I
reported it via CB radio, reached in front of the driver and turned
off the switch - he just kept on snoring!
Rod Speed
> zeez wrote:
>>
>> enough wrote:
>>> If this happens to you, the best thing to do is throw the car in
>>> NEUTRAL, so you keep your power brakes and steering, failing that,
>>> turn off the ignition (note, the Lexus with push button Start
>>> requires you to hold down the button for a few seconds to shut off
>>> the engine)
>
> Bull! You will not KNOW that it is a stuck gas pedal - it COULD be
> that you have pressed the pedal instead of the BRAKE. Therefore what
> you should be prepared to do Immediately is to put BOTH FEET ON THE
> BRAKE!
>
>
> Furthermore, putting the car into neutral (assuming a stuck pedal)
> will cause the engine to over rev and it will soon (probably) explode!
> INSTEAD switch off the engine UNLESS you need to steer!!
Even if you do need to steer, you will still be able to do that fine at highway
speeds, power steering isnt required to pull over to the side of the road.
Rod Speed
Makes a lot more sense to just turn the engine off, that way you
dont fuck the engine due to a stuck accelerator pedal and will
mostly be able to work out what stuck the pedal and be able
to drive off again after you have fixed what stuck the pedal.
You wont be able to do that if you fuck the engine by letting it rev its guts out.