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Yeah, I read the story of the State Trooper who was killed along with his family when his Lexus gas pedal stuck and he was going in excess of 120 mph before he crashed. I wonder why he didn't just turn the key off or shift into neutral.
Makes you wonder how we survived so long with floor mats jamming gas pedals.
Remember the old VWs with the bottom hinged accelerators?
Well, I suppose that in the moment, he tried for the brake, which didn't have the power to stop the car. If he was travelling at 120 mph, then he was probably trying to aim the car in a non-collision direction. Shutting the key off would have been a bad idea because he would lose all brake and steering power assist. Shifting to neutral would have been a good idea, but if one's trying to keep a car under control at 120 mph, there's not a lot of time for the rational brain to kick in and say, "Hey pal, NEUTRAL!" I imagine it went something like this:Yeah, I read the story of the State Trooper who was killed along with his family when his Lexus gas pedal stuck and he was going in excess of 120 mph before he crashed. I wonder why he didn't just turn the key off or shift into neutral.
True, but they would still work. You may have to use both feet on the brake pedal and put some muscle on the steering wheel but you can still stop and steer with the engine off.Shutting the key off would have been a bad idea because he would lose all brake and steering power assist.
Yeah, the engine would then act as a braking force as well. Without the spark-plugs firing, the engine compression help would slow it down in a hurry.One would think he would have turned the key off or put it in neutral BEFORE it reached speeds of 120 mph. I know if my gas pedal stuck and I couldn't get it fixed instantly, I would be shutting the engine down instead of making a phone call.
The driver of the Lexus that crashed and killed him and his family didn't let the car go to 120; the electronic defect in the throttle did it. The car suddenly took off at full throttle. Toyota's system doesn't allow the brake to override so the car didn't even slow down even though he mashed down on the brake! You can do that in other cars but Toyota's system doesn't have that safety overide feature.My question is why would someone let the car get up to 120 mph in the first place? As soon as I felt it accelerating when it shouldn't, I tried the brakes then went for neutral. Maybe it's an instinct you pick up when you learn on a stick shift?
Seriously, it runs on an ATX power supply? :lol: :lol:He was unable to shut the engine down because he didn't realize he had to hold the stop/start button down continuously for 3 seconds to do that. (He just kept pressing it in vain).
THAT makes a lot of sense, actually.The driver of the Lexus that crashed and killed him and his family didn't let the car go to 120; the electronic defect in the throttle did it. The car suddenly took off at full throttle. Toyota's system doesn't allow the brake to override so the car didn't even slow down even though he mashed down on the brake! You can do that in other cars but Toyota's system doesn't have that safety overide feature.
He was unable to shut the engine down because he didn't realize he had to hold the stop/start button down continuously for 3 seconds to do that. (He just kept pressing it in vain). It's believed he wasn't familiar with the gated shifter so he was unable to put it in neutral before it crashed.
Very sad.
The driver of the Lexus that crashed and killed him and his family didn't let the car go to 120; the electronic defect in the throttle did it. The car suddenly took off at full throttle. Toyota's system doesn't allow the brake to override so the car didn't even slow down even though he mashed down on the brake! You can do that in other cars but Toyota's system doesn't have that safety overide feature.
He was unable to shut the engine down because he didn't realize he had to hold the stop/start button down continuously for 3 seconds to do that. (He just kept pressing it in vain). It's believed he wasn't familiar with the gated shifter so he was unable to put it in neutral before it crashed.
Very sad.
Looks like N is in the same place it is on every other AT mode selector (do a google image search), just above drive. All you have to do is push the selector up and it'll stop moving at the neutral position.It's believed he wasn't familiar with the gated shifter so he was unable to put it in neutral before it crashed.