Thursday, March 18, 2010

Sudden Acceleration: How to stop your car if it happens to you



It's been in the news so much lately, so that's what you do.

Here's a slightly different version: http://video.consumerreports.org/services/player/bcpid1078549944?bctid=48234862001.
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3 comments:

kkdither said...

I actually had the sudden acceleration thing happen to me a few years back in my old car, a Ford Taurus. It happened so suddenly, I didn't fully realize what was going on.

I was able to get it in neutral and stop it in time. I happened to be in reverse, backing out of a parking spot when it surged. I thought it was a fluke, then it happened again to my daughter. She wasn't able to stop in time. Crunch! :(

I didn't know about the vacuum thing with pumping the brakes. Good to know. It doesn't have to be a Toyota to catch you by surprise.

March 18, 2010 at 8:57 PM
OrbsCorbs said...

That's very scary, kk. Wow.

I've never had it happen to me, but the old carburetor vehicles with automatic chokes always ran at high idle when cold. That would sometimes translate into power to the drive wheels fighting your braking as you tried to slow down in snow or on ice. I learned to throw into neutral a long time ago.

I was unaware of the vacuum failure, too. Why? Because the engine is running full tilt? You can certainly pump your brakes at other times when necessary if you don't have anti-lock brakes(ABS), which just pumps the brakes for you, so I don't understand why it fails at full acceleration.

You can heat your brakes up to the point that the fluid boils and you lose all "pedal." That can happen on mountain roads, and elsewhere.

March 18, 2010 at 11:25 PM
kkdither said...

Maybe from driving the old cars with the idle racing I was conscious enough to think about throwing it in neutral whereas my daughter freaked out. I was more confused when it happened to me than scared, sort of like when you fall down....Couldn't tell you for sure, but I must have jammed the brake, not pumped it.

March 19, 2010 at 6:56 AM

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