Flawed Toyota Corp Lexus kills family

[itsrobert]

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/10/bn10-911call-fatal-crash/?metro&zIndex=163775

SAN DIEGO – A harrowing 911 call made by a passenger in a fated Lexus that crashed seconds later and killed four people Aug. 28 was released Thursday by the California Highway Patrol.

In the 50-second tape, crash victim Chris Lastrella begins by telling the dispatcher: “We're in a Lexus ... we're going north (state Route) 125 and our accelerator is stuck.”

The dispatcher asks where they are passing, and Lastrella is heard asking someone in the car where they are. He exclaims: “We're going 120 (mph)! Mission Gorge! We're in trouble – we can't – there's no brakes, MissionGorge ... end freeway half mile.”

The dispatcher asks if they can turn the car off.

Lastrella doesn't answer and says repeatedly: “We are now approaching the intersection, we're approaching the intersection, we're approaching the intersection.”

The last sounds heard on the tape are someone saying “hold on” and “pray.” Lastrella says: “Oh shoot ... oh ... oh” Then a woman screams.

911 audio link: Warning Graphic Content
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/multimedia/car911.mp3

[Barack_America]

1. Believe it or not, I had this happen to me once.

In a Dodge Neon. It was terrifying and I'm realizing just how lucky I was to survive.

What a tragedy.

[TxRider]

35. Happened to me once as well..

But I was in a 1967 Mercury cougar I had hot rodded with a big engine and two big carbs...

Luckily in old cars like that you just turn the ignition off..

And then back on, and then off etc. etc. burning rubber every time I did until I got to a place I could pull into.

[mudplanet]

127. More common problem is having a can roll up under your brake pedal

Served me right for being such a slob.

[NutmegYankee]

128. I've seen that one.

A lady in this old station wagon clobbered a sedan at a stop sign near where I lived because of that.

[Pangolin2]

2. What is your point?

That an aftermarket floor mat jammed the accelerator and the driver was too stupid to shut off the key?

I get it.

[redqueen]

4. Isn't it a bit over the top to call the victim stupid?

You don't know that that's what happened.

[Name removed]

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[debbierlus]

67. The problem with shutting off the engine is you lose your power steering

And, then can't control the car at all.

[NutmegYankee]

72. You can still control it

At high speeds, many cars turn off the power assist these days. But even without it, once moving, you can steer surprisingly easily. I had my power steering belt snap one time and drove 100 miles back home without it. Worst part was stopping to eat and parking the car in the space.

[armyowalgreens]

74. It would be harder to control. But not necessarily uncontrollable.

I've driven my friends dodge pickup at 90 mph without power steering (he was suppose to have it, but the pump went out). It was tough, but not impossible.

[NutmegYankee]

82. The newer VWs have electrical power steering.

Rather than have a pump, they have a motor that provides the power assist. The steering shaft is still physically attached to the rack and pinion, so if the motor were to fail, you still have a solid mechanical linkage to steer the car. I tested it out a few times by turning off the engine on a road, and keeping the key just turned enough to unlock the wheel, but not provide power and made sure it was steerable just in case. It takes some arm power, but it can be done readily.


Edit: spelling oops

[Beer on a stick]

96. All Lexii are automatic. He could have just put it neutral.

[Jazzgirl]

78. True.

But you can pop it to neutral. Trust me....it works. I have a Lexus and its my second one. I haven't had this happen yet but I do know you can kick it to neutral pretty quickly. Poor family. When you are under this kind of stress there is no telling what's going through your mind.

[armyowalgreens]

80. I don't think it lets you put it in neutral if you are accelerating. But I could be wrong.

I've put cars in neutral while moving, but I was never accelerating.

[EOTE]

7. What point do you expect to be made?

The OP is simply posting clips of a tragic article and a link. And with regard to your callous comments, if you had read the article, you'd have known that the shut-off button (which I believe also acts as the ignition as the vehicle doesn't have a traditional key) needs to be pressed for 3 seconds in order to shut off the car. So it looks like you'd have been too stupid to figure that out too.

[TxRider]

40. But would that also lock the steering?

And will it shut off in gear?

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Deja Q]

10. Have you tried turning the key when in 'drive' mode?

To most peoples' knowledge, that can only be disengaged in "P" or "N".

[Tesha]

29. Actually, *ALL KEYS* can be turned from "run" to "off" while still in drive.

What they can't be is *REMOVED*, because that would lock the steering.

Tesha

[texastoast]

11. How many Lexus drivers buy aftermarket floormats?

Not many is my guess, based on the fact that I work with a lot of people who own them.

And, yes, in normal circumstances, when your pulse is not at 160 and terror running your thinking processes, turning off the car is the logical thing. Adrenalin can impair your thinking big time and make you act like a stupid, repuke moran, no matter what your political affiliation might be.

[Pangolin2]

17. Okay, I'll buy that...adrenalin made him act like a stupid, repuke moran.

Sounds good to me.
:shrug:
(The funny thing is that if there had been some indication this guy had been a republican - which is very possible given he was driving a Lexus - the real reaction here maybe not said
'aloud' would be that he deserved it)
You know that's true.

[Maru Kitteh]

120. No it wouldn't be, especially with a family on board. You have a lot to learn.

[itsrobert]

12. It was given to him as a loaner

and he didn't know you had to hold a button in for 3 seconds to turn the key off. He lost all breaking because the way the Lexus is design when the brakes overheat.

The floor mats were installed by the Lexus dealer.

[Pangolin2]

21. So what...your post was a transparent attempt to portray Toyota as an extremely guilty

party in this accident. A clear example of xenophobia.

[CreekDog]

24. Most Toyotas are made in the USA

:think:

[Pangolin2]

32. Duh...I know that, I have 3 of them.

:eyes:

[itsrobert]

25. Flaw designed: Check, Lexus Dealer installs floormat over old: Check

Lexus complicated breaking system: Check, Takes 3 seconds to hold button in to turn key: Check.

[EOTE]

26. If you get xenophobia from that, you've got a rather twisted mind.

The OP notes that the Lexus was flawed. If you deny that, then you've got serious reading comprehension problems. There is nothing wrong with the OP. Give it up already, won't you?

[Pangolin2]

31. Bullshit, there's no evidence the car was flawed. There is an abundance of evidence that the driver

was unable to control it.

[TexasObserver]

50. Yes, there is evidence of design flaw.

There are numerous "stuck accelerator" cases involving Lexus. The fact that the accelerator COULD be stuck by a mat is ultimately all the evidence you need to prove design flaw. The accelerator didn't work as intended and that design flaw caused the accident. Of course, an expert will opine about the defect and causation.

[Pangolin2]

88. Bullshit. Nobody can design a foolproof mechanism. It's a human trait.

The irony is that if this vehicle had been a Hummer, this thread would have been FULL of giggling "Darwin Award" posts. You know it.

[TexasObserver]

117. No, it's not bullshit, it's Products Liability, and it exists irrespective of your ignorance.

[haele]

56. The guy was an off-duty CHP officer with his family returning from the dealership

I've driven that route - the whole area is bedroom communities, there's a lot of construction going on right now, so there's all sorts of lane closures and a "split" where the highway ends and becomes another highway and road, as well as the road going up a hill and down hill in a curve. It's also not a long road; just about 15 miles of highway total, and they were apparently on the three mile stretch between I-8 and Highway 52 when it happened.

With the type of traffic in the area and the constantly shifting lanes - even on a weekend, trying to manouver an excellerating car and hold onto a freaking little button on the dash for the entire three seconds it takes to stop it is near impossible. If the other party in the front had their wits about them and knew about the button, they probably could have stopped the car, but there just wasn't a lot of time between the jamming of the accellerator and the crash - and especially not enough time to go messing around with potentially jammed floormats or go looking for the owners manual.

Yeah, the design flaw was a major part of the accident, just as the design flaws of those Goodyear SUV Tires that blew out after just a little wear, causing fatalities before they were finally recalled.
Once the brakes burnt out, it was pretty much all over.

Haele

[Jazzgirl]

90. I haven't read the article yet but I have driven

the Lexus' that have the keyless fob. I didn't think about that. I have a 2005 330 and it still has the key. I usually get a loner that has the keyless fob and I didn't think about that. Since I have had the stuck accelerator experience in a '76 Buick Opel I would know to kick it into neutral and pull over. Dayum, that is scary!

[Xenotime]

129. Or drunk

[Name removed]

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[CreekDog]

19. stupidest post ever!

wish we had an award for that! :eyes:

[TexasObserver]

38. No, you clearly do not get it.

We don't know why the accelerator jammed. We do know that YOU don't know why it jammed. We do know that if the cause of the jamming was the floor mat, the driver was not responsible, because the car was not his. The car was a loaner from a dealership. The duty is therefore theirs, not the driver's.

As for your other supposition - that the driver was too stupid to shut off the key - apparently you cannot understand the clear statements in the story which reveal that there is a button which must be depressed for 3 consecutive seconds, and that the driver may not have been able to accomplish that under the circumstances. You also appear not to have read the portion of the story which indicated that if the car was malfunctioning, the driver might not have been able to turn it off, no matter what he did.

In summary, you lambaste the driver and blame him for things beyond his control, with absolutely no basis for drawing such a conclusion.

Contrary to what you posted, you clearly don't get it.

[Name removed]

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[TexasObserver]

53. As a matter of public policy, Lexus is likely to be held responsible.

We try to hold manufacturers responsible when they know or should know that their product is unreasonably dangerous in a defective state.

In this instance, there's one thing we know about gas accelerators: if they get stuck, it can mean a terrible accident, so we want to make sure they cannot get stuck. If they do get stuck, we are going to hold responsible the manufacturer, because they're in a position to make sure that doesn't happen.

Suppose that a manufacturer knows that in a handful of instances, after acquired floor mats of a certain type might get stuck and jam the accelerator? Even though the mat may be characterized as a cause of the accident, the floor mat is not the mechanism that is tragically malfunctioning. It is the sticking accelerator.

As a society, we want the auto manufacturers to be responsible for sticking accelerators, no matter why they are sticking.

[Pangolin2]

61. Some years ago I was taking my dog to the vet...for shots or ...something. He got excited and

jumped onto the floor and got his butt under my brake pedal (2005 Toyota Tacoma pickup). I was in traffic and this momentarily frightned me because I COULD have need to stop or slow down drastically but fortunately I was able to drag him out from down there (while keeping the vehicle under control) and not get into any sort of real danger.

I guess according to some foreign car-haters around here, I should have sued Toyota for not designing in some sort of dog barrier.

:grr:

[flvegan]

87. At least you're almost entertaining.

Most of 'em aren't.

[Pangolin2]

99. You're good...you managed to imply I am a freeper without actually saying it.

Most of 'em aren't. And I'm not a freeper, I just think starting a thread with the clear insinuation that a company (which employs thousands of Americans) is evil incarnate because some guy couldn't keep from crashing one of their automobiles is dishonest.

[Name removed]

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[flvegan]

101. I'm not implying that you're a Freeper.

Mindreading skill fail.

[TexasObserver]

116. If you think that's the same, then there's your problem.

This is our system of assigning liabilities, and it doesn't need your uninformed approval to exist.

[tammywammy]

47. Exactly. n/t

[seabeyond]

57. so i read, and feel sadness for the people. you read and....

is it tough guy computer talk, or are you what we have become as a society.

and if this is who you are

then when it hits you in the face, no crying, no whining, no sympathy or empathy. cry alone.

[Name removed]

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[Pangolin2]

83. Okay, what did I say that is 'freeper'?

Or what rule did I break?

You really should let me know so I can avoid it in future.

[Name removed]

84. Deleted message

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[Pangolin2]

93. So you cannot show where I broke any rule and you broke one to call me a troll.

I see how it works. And I find it reprehensible.

[redqueen]

94. Well la-di-frickin-da...

no one is begging you to stay.

I imagine most find your shitty attitude quite a lot more reprehensible than you do the people trash talking you.

[Pangolin2]

104. I get it. Believe me, I get it. Anybody who disagrees with you has a shitty attitude.

It's perfectly clear. I didn't start the nastiness, you know. Or should. I'll say one more time, if that incident had been a republican operative in a Hummer, half the posts in this thread would have been glad-handing the 'karma' and giggling about Darwin Awards. I don't need a Magic 8 ball to know that.

[Batgirl]

111. How do you type these things with a straight face?

"I didn't start the nastiness, you know."

Yet there you are, waaaaaaaay up there in the #2 position, and exuding all the morning-shock-jock charm and reasonableness you can muster, observing that those people died because "the driver was too stupid to shut off the key."

[Forkboy]

121. I always love the "who, me?" stuff.

:)

[billh58]

105. This poster

has started fights on other threads as well, and has all of the ear-marks of a kid hanging out in his parent's basement, whose only mission in life is to annoy grownups.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[nadinbrzezinski]

106. Over the top and MOST DRIVERS do not know to turn off the key

or to use emergency brakes, or do a series of other emergency maneuvers. Some of which will destroy your transmission.

I do, I was a trained emergency driver, but most folks DO NOT know what to do.

It is NOT taught in drive ed ok

[seabeyond]

108. now that i think, i dont know where emergency break is in new car, and break/push button turns car

on, no key. so now what, lol

[nadinbrzezinski]

109. Your emergency brake is your park break.

You pump it in and out as you try to slow down and GET THAT DAMN CAR TO NEUTRAL, and then turn the car off.

Yes, you will loose power steering, it will mean fighting the car, and if you happen to be on a ramp wiht a truck ramp, (sand... they are identified as emergency ramps) use it.

The last time I used my training was driving parents to my sister's. My front driver's side tire failed catastrophically at highway speeds. I am here to tell the tale... and I admit it, was training.

[seabeyond]

guess i better check out the car

to find these things, huh. lol

thanks for the reminders.

[nadinbrzezinski]

119. You welcome, on and it goes with out saying

remain calm...

:-)

I still remember the instructors saying this... IF YOU loose it, you lost it.

[NutmegYankee]

130. Part of the problem is Automatic Transmissions.

Most drivers in the USA never use the parking break because they just put the car in Park. If you drive a stick shift, you use it every time and leave the car in gear as a backup. I really think this is why people don't know this basic stuff. We made cars too simple from the operation aspect, and too complex from the frills aspect.

[seabeyond]

132. thinking. my break has been next to shift gear on panel. so was a hmmm

realizing last night not there. was in car this morning, found a "pump; on and off" and guessing that is the break. isnt that something. years and years ago i had shift, and yes, break was used all the time.

this car does so many things that i am clueless about, in driving itself, i do think about that, not totally comfortable with it.

[Name removed]

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[mdmc]

3. awful

:(

[create.peace]

6. they say there the floor mat could have made it stick, and

i believe it could have, having had that happen once, not at high speed, and i was able to pull it out. even if this wasn't the case, always check the floor mats in borrowed cars, and your own, of course.

[Fla Dem]

20. May have had recalled "all-weather" floor mats

"Investigators with the Nation Highway Safety Transportation Administration looked at the vehicle last week. Spokesman Ray Tyson said the agency got involved because of a 2007 recall involving after-market “all-weather” floor mats, including the Lexus ES 350.

[create.peace]

28. interesting, i think my dad has a lexus, not sure....thanks.nt

[Deja Q]

9. Even more awful this sort of stuff becomes entertainment, complete with link.

Isn't fiction good enough anymore...

[Fla Dem]

16. After reading the story, I couldn't listen to the audio...too heartbreaking. n/t

[shrdlu]

14. Fly-by-wire...

Does Lexus have the so-called "fly-by-wire" electronic controls?

[EOTE]

27. Drive by wire, and I believe so.

Not steering or anything like that, but I believe there is no direct mechanical link between the accelerator pedal and the throttle body. It wouldn't have made a difference in this case because even without the drive-by-wire system, the pedal still would have been stuck.

[Libertas1776]

15. The simpler the car

the better, IMHO. All these cars like Lexus, with their bells and whistles only cause more harm then good. I have a cousin that had one of those big, fancy cars with the bells and whistles; I think it was a Nissan. One night, while driving on the expressway, the computer chips in the car decided to go batshit crazy. The car decided to come to a grinding halt, the lights started flashing, the wind shield wipers were flapping, and his seat started pushing him against the wheel (Mind you, he his quite a prodigious, very heavy fellow) He had to basically push his 90 year old mother out of the car before the same happened to her. Now, he always refers to the car as "Christine."


Really a tragic event, and I hope they really find out what happened with this fucking Lexus.

[armyowalgreens]

22. Well, newer cars are statistically much safer than older cars...

This accident was a freak occurrence.

I would much rather be in that Lexus, on any given day, than an older, simpler vehicle.

[Pangolin2]

33. Gee thanks for admitting this right after excoriating me for noting the driver couldn't handle

the "much safer" car.
jeezus...
:eyes:

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[texastoast]

112. And we can thank trial lawyers for safer cars

You know, those folks who lay out hundreds of thousands of their own dollars and weeks and months of their time to prove product liability in cases for consumers (some of whom are wingnuts' children) and lose every dime if they don't win. Thank God they have won at least some of the time. Otherwise, we might still be having to pay the medical bills out of the taxpayers' pockets for uninsured Pinto drivers.

[Kali]

114. CORRECT

"frivolous lawsuits" are another bit of bullshit propaganda too many good people fall for

[TxRider]

46. Agreed

Though not for safety reasons..

My next is a 1953 truck I'm restoring and putting a very fuel efficient little 4 cyl turbo diesel in right now.

[NutmegYankee]

85. Most of the bells and whistles are not dangerous.

However, I always notice that this tragic story NEVER happens to those who drive a stick shift.

[flvegan]

23. "There's no brakes" is pretty telling to me.

Even if the throttle was stuck by a floormat, applying the brakes forcefully should significantly slow the car down to the point where it should stop and the wheels just spin, burning the tires down.

[Pangolin2]

36. All new cars have anti-skid brakes that REQUIRE forceful application to work in

extreme situations...this is emphasized in owners' manuals which far too many people don't bother to read.

[flvegan]

55. Did you have a point?

I stated forcefully to imply that rather than slamming on them at 100 mph and flipping them over, they should be applied slowly and evenly to force.

[TxRider]

42. Not if you have gained too much speed already

It would simply overheat the brakes and they would become pretty useless... very quickly I might add.

[Pangolin2]

49. Disc brakes do not fade.

In fact, the hotter they get, the better they work.


Do try to keep up with technology.

[CreekDog]

51. Do try to keep up with douchebaggery.

oh nevermind, you did! :D

[Pangolin2]

62. Great comeback. Nothing to challenge my facts, just a personal insult.

You'd be a real asset to the republican party there, goober.
\

[CreekDog]

79. I only give as good as I get

:P

[Forkboy]

54. Well, disc brakes are such a fascinating technology it's a miracle we're not all experts.

[armyowalgreens]

59. Don't worry, he's wrong.

[armyowalgreens]

58. You don't know much about cars, do you? Disc brakes do fade...

They are simply more resistant to fade than drum brakes.

If you've ever watched long distance race events, you've probably seen cars suffering from faded brakes.

[Pangolin2]

63. You knew perfectly what I meant...or should have. The story here wasn't about

some guy in a long distance race.
So shove it.

[armyowalgreens]

73. Oh so now you know that disc brakes fade. So you must know...

that there are multiple types of disc brakes and caliper set-ups. And each one has a certain level of tolerance against fade. A Lexus accelerating at 120 mph is not going to come to a stop very easily. It's discs and calipers are probably good quality. But you are talking about speeds and forces seen by much faster vehicles.

I highly doubt that car had something like ceramic discs. And at 120 mph, with that much weight, standard or good quality discs and calipers will have a very hard time functioning properly. You might get one good 120-0 stop out of them before fade appears. And that isn't taking into account the fact that the accelerator was floored.

The driver said that the brakes didn't work. I'm inclined to believe the observation. I'm sure they tried the fucking brakes.

[Ikonoklast]

91. Are you completely dim?

Disc brakes do not fade.
Posted by Pangolin2
In fact, the hotter they get, the better they work.


Do try to keep up with technology.

Have you ever raced a vehicle competitively, at any level, amateur or professional?

This statement is not only false, it is ludicrous.

Disc brakes resist fade better than drum brakes, but, trust me on this one, Skippy, the absolutely do fade and fail under high heat and repeated application situations. You can boil the fluid in the reservoir in extreme use conditions, causing total loss of braking ability.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[itsrobert]

30. I see all the Corporate lovers are blaming the victim and giving this an UNREC

unreal

[NoPasaran]

37. The stupidity haters are as well!

[Pangolin2]

39. Some people work for corporations and aren't all that happy with people who want to

close them down and kill jobs. I'm not one of those but I've owned over a dozen Toyotas and consider them to be fine cars and your snarky headline was way out of bounds.

[Cali_Democrat]

34. Very sad. n/t

[mudplanet]

41. I think I'd just throw it into neutral and pull the emergency brake

[LeftyMom]

48. It's a parking brake, not an emergency brake.

Good luck getting it to stop you in a hurry. :rofl:

[moriah]

118. If it's all you have....

... sometimes the parking brake is the only way to try to slow a car down.

You work with what you have...

[mudplanet]

124. Good point of specificity. But if you threw it into neutral wouldn't the regular brakes work

perfectly well? I'm pretty sure a parking brake will lock up your rear wheels if you tug on it hard and lock it.

Simply turning into the shoulder would be preferable to driving off a cliff.

But I've been riding motorcycles for forty years and have had to learn to think fast when driving.

I'd be nice if we required more professional driving training like they do in Great Britain.

[mudplanet]

126. Emergency brake From Wikipedia

Emergency brake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

An emergency brake is a separate brake system in a vehicle for use in case of failure of the regular (hydraulic or air) brakes and commonly used as a parking brake in automobiles.

[NoGOPZone]

52. That's likely the best option if it won't turn off and the brakes are out

Although locking the rear wheels at 120 mph is nothing to look forward to.

[Pangolin2]

64. No but it beats the shit out of asking the car to go through a hillside.

:eyes:

[debbierlus]

69. Happened to us two weeks ago - it wouldn't go into neutral

[NutmegYankee]

60. Glad that can never happen to me.

I drive a real car with a clutch.

[DeschutesRiver]

65. I don't get this at all

In these cars, there is a button to turn them on and off and this guy didn't know how to use the button to turn it off? That makes no sense, how was he going to turn it off when he got home?

He had time to make a phone call, but wouldn't answer the dispatcher who asked him if he had turned his car off - this is wierd coming from a guy who was a California Highway Patrolman (saw that in another post, is it true?), who is probably trained to think as clearly as possible under in extreme circumstances and under high pressure. Something surely went very wrong for him and his family on this day.

What a tragic thing to have happened - it will help when there are more facts available so the inconsistencies can be resolved in a way that makes sense of this.

[NutmegYankee]

68. The thing I find odd is that he didn't (couldn't??) go to neutral.

I've never seen an automatic that couldn't be pulled to neutral, but then again, I drive European type cars.

[debbierlus]

70. It happened to us, and it wouldn't go into neutral.

[NutmegYankee]

77. What kind of car?

I've driven Euro and Ford/Chevy and they all could be shifted from N through D,2,1 (usual setup) while moving.

[tammywammy]

71. He may not have known to press it down for 3 seconds

At home you'd push it, but then you have plenty of time to push it and then press it down. When your car's going `120 mph you don't have that long to figure it out.

[itsrobert]

75. His brother in law in the back seat was making the phone call

not him.

[Pangolin2]

86. He was going to let it run all night...so he could verify its great gas mileage.

:eyes:
You're right, most of this story fails the smell test. "Gee, my car is accelerating out of control, we're about to crash so I guess I'll call 911 and ask for advice..."

:grr:

[tammywammy]

89. The driver didn't call 911 n/t

[Pangolin2]

97. Oh, my bad. They just made up that tape?

:eyes:

[tammywammy]

98. You should read the article

It was a passenger that called 911. :eyes:

[Forkboy]

122. LOL

[debbierlus]

66. THE EXACT same thing happened two weeks ago to me

We were all in the car. My husband, me, and my daughter.

We were LUCKY. We were on a straightaway with NO traffic coming and we had a mile or two range to stop

My husband had to throw it in PARK to stop it.

It was terrifying.

Omg. That is so fucking awful. SO AWFUL.

It was a problem with the cruise control, short version. It accelerated without any push on the gas petal and we got up to around 90.

[YvonneCa]

113. This was an awful accident. I saw it. Four people...

...died that night. They burned to death in the car. It seems the accelerator was stuck due to a fault with the floor mat. It was not their own car, so they may not have been familiar with some of the safety features.

Some comments in this thread could stand some empathy.

[Jazzgirl]

76. I had this happen in a 1976 Buick Opel.

It happened a few times but the first time was on my way home from work. I tried to brake and it wouldn't let me. I finally had enough thought to kick it to neutral. That is the only thing that saved my ass.

[Capn Sunshine]

107. IF this happens to you

PUT THE SHIFTER IN NEUTRAL
Yes , the motor will either break or rev limit out and stall. And will be wrecked. But better the motor than you.

[DainBramaged]

115. Drive by wire throttle control and computer-controlled transmissions

are becoming standard on more and more cars. Maybe it was complete failure and when panicked people react poorly.


Let's wait till the NHTSA investigates before drawing any conclusions.


http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/defects/defectmonthlyreports.cfm

[aikoaiko]

123. That would be a tragic and rare malfunction to have a stuck accelerator and no brakes.

Brakes should be able to overcome acceleration.

[NutmegYankee]

125. It depends on the horsepower.

Moving at that speed with constant power from the engine of most cars would be hard to stop.

[B Calm]

131. So Lexus is the new Pinto. . .