Okay in light of the terrible accident that occurred down the street from my place

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How do our cars react to…

A. putting the tranny in neutral (when the engine is at full throttle)
B. turning off the ignition (again at full throttle)

These would be my 2 top defenses against a run away car but apparently these did nothing for this guy and his family in their Lexus. Anyone have to do this in their Crossfire? It just got me to thinking what would I do in that same situation.

 

I had a twinturbo Dodge Stealth that had the throttle stuck open, and I put it in neutral, hit the brakes, rolled into a parking lot, and then shut it off ... and that worked fine. I don't know why that wouldn't work with these cars too, although it was a 5-speed if that makes a difference.

It might've bounced off the rev-limiter a few times, but it stopped it. Be careful about shutting it off too early because you lose your power steering.

 

B will work and just hit your brake or pull your ebrake. I do this in the staging lanes and once key is off won't matter where there the throttle was. Hope it sets your mind at ease.

 

Slap it down, the rev limiter will start braking and then go to neutral, you can go into neutral and back into gear if need be. I have gone to neutral and shut off the engine to reset a missfire code while doing 50 mph but often have to go to a full-stop to get it to re-engague the tranny.

Me I'd
1. hit brakes
2. go to neutral
3. hit parking brake cause it is a different lining and it will be sacraficed for the cause
4.TURN THE WHEEL most people panic; hit brakes and slide into the object, turn dummy turn and if you can graze another guard rail or sign that is going to slow you also.
5. DO NOT TURN OFF THE KEY.....YOU ARE IN A PANIC SITUATION AND MAY LOCK WHEEL AND PANIC MORE.....YOU WOULD "KILL" THE POWER STEERING _ LOCKED _ AND BRAKE ASSIST VACUUM source is gone AND you just SHUT off the ABS........You will also disable the horn !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If the engine is wide open the throttle body is calling for it, blow the motor in neutral, youll have a story and live to tell about it. I had my throttle body gasket separate from the TB and the engine went into a 1000 rpm limp mode, remember the TB was hanging loose no limit to the air , the computer protected it'self


Remember to trash the car rather than hit other people or cars. Car is just a car and its only money which is why you have to pay insurance.

Exception:

If it is 'their' accident Ill punch them a little bit rather than allow them to escape the scene.

In virginia:

Deer: hit the brakes and kill the deer, never never swerve for them, kill them.
1. you need a fur sample............insurance
2. That deer wont do it again if you do your job
3. Going into the ditch and over turning or WORSE HITTING A TREE will kill you, possibly forever. If they bring you back you might not want to be back.
You might go right over it as I did and fly a bit but no damage to the car?????yes!

Turning is another option, remember...........Woody

BTW my HEMI 2004 has done this a few times, found the floor mat was jambing the throttle on the durango, mat has since been CUT.

 

I just wonder what really happened when the driver tried to put the tranny into neutral. Was the load of the engine far greater on clutches and what not to manually put it into neutral?

I kinda want to try it on my car but am a bit afraid it will cause some damage.

The guy was a competent driver who happened to be a police officer. I just couldn't imagine what was going though his mind when all of this was going on... Sad

 

One word.....Brakes !

 

They didn't work for him either Maybe this is a case of divine intervention? Anything this guy tried to do did nothing... nada...

 

If you have a run away engine and your being nice to the car that you BORROWED, you would apply the brakes softly then work up to more force.

With a wot engine, there is no vacuum to speak of and after you exhaust or vent the stored vacuum in the power assist canister by PUMPING the pedal, son your screwed. No power assist, hot brakes and several hundred horsepower, your in deep doo doo, time to get your survival instincts going.

Go to neutral if you can remember where it is on the borrowed car.

Do you know how long it took to get the situation in hand, get the phone, see and push 911 and get an operator, gotta be 60 seconds.

Id have to see what to take out along the road---gaurd rail--another vehicle like a truck to get snuggy with or something. I have to say that Id make a long long mess of something to slow the car. You can not even kill the radiator, that would still run AKA demolition derby for another minute or two.

The "key" would be one option unless the divine thing was after you and that jammed. Does this car have a push button to start??? if so where is the push to off??? How do you do that? Dunno.

Sad, but it has more than a few actually thinking of "what if", which is good.

I would be inclined to think that he never did serious damage to the car because he was managing the situation and did not know that he was beyind the point of no return, i.e. he did not realize ( the magnitude of danger ) that he was going to lose his family or his life.

Poor Planning ( ahead ) provides **** poor results.

Or Dirty Harry: A man has got to know his limitations.

Woody

 

well, the last thing in a crash to do is put it in neutral...sounds like his crash caused a problem in the electronics, that allowed the engine to go full tilt...it shouldv'e rev limited itself, and certainly died once ignition was turned off. But, an air bag deployment will knock the crap out of you, and for a few minutes you may not think too straight...when involved in a serious crash, just hang on, apply brakes, once stopped turn key off...and try to get out once you access damage to yourself. Cars very seldom ever catch on fire..that's hollywood stuff, but someone else may crash into you again...so try to clear the scene to a safe place...call 911 once you are safe...

 

Good advice, Doc. My DE teacher drummed into us that you:

1. NEVER go for the ditch to avoid a deer. Deer are softer than trees.
2. NEVER turn off the key while moving

If you do hit the OFF position, your steering will lock in the last (turning) position.
No power anything.

 

A similar thing happened at a car show around here. A guy in a heavily modified 60-something Camaro started his car, revved it a couple times before putting it in gear, which isn't uncommon, especially with an older car. But when he put it in gear, the throttle stuck wide open. He still had his foot on the brake, but the car had more than enough power to overwhelm the brakes. He started smoking tire and people just thought he was showing off. Before you knew it the car was flying through the parking lot in reverse. It slammed full tilt into a completely original 34 Ford. What a shame - two classics destroyed in one shot. I don't recall if anyone was hurt, but the Camaro and the Ford were toast, and a couple other cars got sideswiped.

Evidently, the driver tried to shut the car down, but whatever he did didn't work.

So keep in mind, if your car is really broke, turning it off and braking may not help. Those of us with modded cars make more power than the brakes can handle. You better have a backup plan.

 

Had the throttle stick twice on my supercharged 67 Chevelle. Both times I used the key off method to end the excitement. Both times there was a huge BANG (backfire) from the engine. One of the times occured at night. That was spectacular! Flames everywhere!
Thank goodness for the blow off valve! No damage done.
Of course no power steering, no power brakes so I still had full control of the car.