Car decapitates man - Daily Fail link inside

[Quartz]

Yes, I remember Toyota having this issue. IIRC they kept denying it until it happened to Steve Wozniak (he of Apple fame) and he was able to diagnose the fault.

 

[Hotwired]

So, any reason why this guy would not have been able to use the footbrake?

Would have been well over 8 mins with only a handful of possible controls to use.

 

[f3rr3t]

Mixed up pedals I think.

 

[Scania]

Has anyone else here tried braking from high speed while there throttle is still pressed ?

Not throttle jammed but I've once got myself into a situation where I was going down hill and my brakes overheated to the point where the weight of the rig was effectively pushing me down the hill and accelerating.

It was late at night,very little traffic,on a downhill section of motorway, I had plenty of time and space at that time of night to figure out the problem ,resolve it by letting it coast back down to normal speed and that was in a 44tonner.

In daytime traffic it would have been very different, in either scenarios.


I can't conceive how he got into this situation without either intention or some incredible lapse.


Still, RIP, poor sod.

 

[Tefal]

from what it says i'm going to go with the guy committed suicide but didn't want to void any life insurance/pensions/anyone to know.

Martin Clatworthy, a vehicle data examiner and safety safety specialist for Volkswagen, the makers of Skoda, told the inquest that in the five seconds before the crash, the vehicle was travelling at 116mph and the accelerator pedal was fully depressed. He added there was no braking recorded.

 

[Nasher]

No braking recorded, but if the electricals were screwed up it might not have recognized any input. Only the state it was stuck in.

 

[Deep]

Pushing the engine stop/start button won't work while you are moving.

It does in my Mondeo

 

[breadturbo]

It does in my Mondeo

Works in my Mondeo too, didn't work in my laguna, neither did the electric handbrake when moving.

 

[skaif]

The electric handbrake in my Golf activates the rear brakes abs and it slows you to a stop if you keep it held.

(dont ask how I know - I definitely have not tried to do a handbrake turn in it, 100% promise.)

 

[Liquidfox]

Pushing the stop/start in a Mk2 Focus ST doesn't immediately work, you have to hold it for a few seconds I believe.

 

[MeAnBoY]

In any instance, just stand on the brakes. Bring anything to a stop. Can engage neutral in an auto while moving, no problem there. As mentioned, probably just had the pedals mixed up - seen people do similar while I'm in the car.

Devil's advocate: committing suicide in a way that still grants life insurance to be paid out.

In fairness, life insurance pays out for suicide after the first 12 months of it being active and if it was within the first 12 months then surely a bit of a gamble on his side with how the investigation/coroner verdict turns out?

 

[Conscript]

It does in my Mondeo

Really? It doesn't in my Toyota, I assume it would be a global safety standard or something. I stand corrected.

 

[Steeps]

I've managed to overheat the brakes in my car on track to the point foot goes to the floor with no effect, so it's possible he cooked them trying to slow the car down repeatedly early on. After a couple of tries on the brakes to see how the car responded he should have made one last attempt to scrub speed, then run it along the central reservation parallel while turning in more so the drive wheels lose forward motion.

 

[Gambisk]

The cruise control in my Brothers SLK wouldn't disengage as we approached a tailback on the motorway, even at 70Mph with the cruise still trying to maintain 70 we were able to get it stopped with only the foot brake, before the back of the traffic. I find it hard to believe this man was unable to stop his car even if the cruise control was locked on. We did need to pull onto the hard shoulder to change underwear afterwards

 

[Dis86]

But Toyota has done a accelerator pedal recall & a floor mat recall on millions of cars if I remember right....

They have. But it was a different issue. In any case though the problem could be solved by a number of options. The trouble is some people are stupid, some people panic. They don't take the logical course of action when a problem does creep up.

 

[Jono]

Pretty sure my leon would cut the fuel when the brakes were pressed. Even if you were mashing the accellerator pedal with minimal force on brakes.

 

[Janesy B]

Either suicide or stupidity, I live in Harrow and the usual standard of driving would point towards stupidity. There are many ways of bringing a car to a stop that don't involve calling 999 and crashing into the back of a lorry.

 

[Muncher]

There's a long thread on PH about it, I think it's pretty clear the guy topped himself but didn't want it to look like a suicide for cultural reasons.