Throttles and bail-outs

[protege]

people like me with that driving background probably would immediately think to use the transmission to slow the car... I can see though how someone who has only ever driven an auto would overlook that option.

Depends on the car though. My now-gone '91 Toyota Tercel had a feature...that if you slammed on the brakes, the clutch would pop free. Meaning, you wouldn't stall the car out (and possibly getting rear-ended!) by stopping suddenly.

Then there was that damn Ford Tempo I once had. Those things had a well-deserved reputation for shitty brakes, and mine was no exception. My big brake scare came one night after work. As I'm coming down the last big hill before my turn-off, the brake pedal suddenly hit the floor

I'm doing about 60mph in a 35mph zone, and the traffic light ahead of me has just turned red, and cars are pulling out Not much I could really do, other than throw the transmission into Low, and hope I stopped before the light. The transmission was never the same after that.

What was really odd about that car, is that when I checked the brakes the next morning...they were fine and no, I didn't drive it. I had the garage come and tow it.

[Broomjockey]

No.

Power steering and power brakes are mechanical, not electrical, systems. They
are not tied into the ignition switch.

Cars are designed so that the loss of a power assist does NOT result in loss of
control. Power assists are exactly that - ASSISTS.

I would like to point out that I did say ASSISTS. And that it was an OLD MAN in the story, so losing the assists would be BAD. Thanks for playing.

[Chromatix]

No, I'm going to agree with xaenon.

Power steering, except in very early models with it, only operates at low speeds. At high speeds, the small wheel deflections you need for lane control are easy to get, and power assistance would just make them jerky. Power steering is only useful for the large wheel movements you use in urban traffic and for parking, and so it's perfectly fine to lose it on the highway.

Brakes are also designed to be failure-resistant. (I won't say fail-safe, because they don't self-apply when they fail like railway brakes do.) You can use them to stop after the engine has stopped, and although I wouldn't count on getting the best stopping distance from them in that situation, it's a heck of a lot better than melting them by trying to use them with the engine still applying power.

If turning the ignition off doesn't work for some reason, then throwing the transmission out of gear *is* a perfectly valid tactic. Yes, it might destroy the engine, but it will let the vehicle as a whole come to a stop (and you'll still have your precious power steering and brake assistance). Only very old engines lack a rev-limiter, but it's quite possible that it won't do it's job if the throttle itself is duff.

[Polenicus]

Without knowing the mechanical details of the car with the throttle issue, it's impossible to say for sure, but there is always the possibility of user error.

As the story of the woman bailing out illustrates, sometimes when people panic, their brains short out and they do PHENOMENALLY stupid things.

Imagine this... you're driving down the freeway... relatively unfamiliar vehicle. You move your foot to where you THINK the brake is... where in your mind it should be, and where on your old vehicle it always was.

But the positioning on THIS vehicle is different, and your foot is still on the gas. Instead of slowing as you expect, you continue to gently accelerate.

Your reflex to deal with this is to push harder on the brake. So you push harder. But your foot is on the gas, so now you start accelerating full out, and your brain has locked up from the fear and isn't able to process that your foot is on the wrong pedal.

So now you slam your other foot down, this one actually hitting the brake, and put all your weight against it, simultaneously flooring both the brake and the gas, as you grip the steering wheel in gibbering panic, trying to avoid traffic, your mind full of images of fiery, high-speed death.

Finally, you grind down the brake shoes, and start melting the calipers, and the smell of hot metal fills the cab, penetrating your fear. It gets worse the longer you press the brakes, and you're not slowing, and eventually the fear of something catastrophically failing in the wheels overrides the fear of not stopping, and you pull your feet off the pedals.

Both pedals.

The vehicle immediately starts to slow as you are no longer frantically pushing on the accelerator, and the sudden loss of speed frees up enough mental capacity for you to realize what you've done, and realize what a humiliating and laughable mistake you just made.

Ego kicks in, and you immediately seek out someone else to blame to cover up your mistake.

... Just a possibility.

[bean]

Shutting the car off might not be a good idea for an older person, since it turns off the power-steering, and they may lose control. {Edit: Broomjockey beat me to this one! Gotta type faster next time.}

I've had my car die going around a sharp curve before when I put the clutch in to shift (my car has some issues with idling at random... it'll be fine for months, then for a week it dies instead of idling.. no mechanic has been able to figure it out in 3 years and the computer hasn't triggered any trouble codes). It's caught me off guard a few times and I almost swerved... outside of my lane. And was able to successfully do u-turns with the engine dead (i.e. no power steering or brakes), AND bring the car to a quick stop, though stopping did require standing on the brake pedal with 3 toes.

I'm not a strong guy by any means. I drive a midsize sedan, 2001 Honda Accord LX with power everything except seats, 4 hamsters under the hood (2.3L 4 cyl) instead of the V6. It's a 3200 pound car.

If you're shutting the car off, you're EXPECTING power brakes and steering to quit working. I've had them quit with no warning (see above) and didn't lose control around a sharp 50 mph offramp (doing 65), though I'm pretty sure I left the drivers seat a few shades darker afterwards.

Also, the only "pedal mistake" I've ever made has been while driving automatic cars. I've been driving manual for the past 10 years, so when I get in an automatic vehicle, I usually wind up slamming my foot on the brake once or twice trying to shift before I realize.. "oh hey guys there's an extra wide brake pedal and NO CLUTCH... hahahhahaha I'm an idiot!".

[Bobsentme]

I've actually had a throttle stick on me, in my 15 year old, 1983 Chevy S-10 (v6) pickup.

It happened on the highway, and I didn't realize the throttle was stuck until I let off the gas pedal, and kept speeding up towards the cars in front of me. About 20 minutes of using my brakes to keep from slamming into the car ahead of me (while my passenger tried to unstick the gas pedal), and the brakes were fine. Same with the rotors.

In fact, the only real damage was the fact I jumped a curb at the bottom of an off ramp and threw it into park to keep from hitting a telephone pole (the pole looked like a better option than the line of cars at the bottom).

Lesson learned: Put it in neutral and coast. Sure, you may blow your engine, but it's WAY better than almost causing a 20 car pile up. (Yes, I've blown an engine before too, it's really not that bad. Your car won't explode.)