I haven't read all of this thread but here's what Stephen Mead, assistant chief examiner at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, reckons you should do in that situation (at the bottom of the article)
Accelerator stuck @ 135mph
- Thread starter laissez-faire
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1) it was an automatic, no cluth, and when in high revs will NOT slip into neutral.
2) he didn't have any breaks, He tried that and wore his breaks out 130mph doesn't take long to destroy the pads..
3) no idea why he couldn't turn it off must be a reason though. Othewise he or the police would have done it.
2) he didn't have any breaks, He tried that and wore his breaks out 130mph doesn't take long to destroy the pads..
3) no idea why he couldn't turn it off must be a reason though. Othewise he or the police would have done it.
Soldato
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hand brake would be useless imo cos its RWD
another reason not to buy autos
another reason not to buy autos
PAS is only for at slow speeds. At the speeds he was doing he could have just turned the ignition off.... What an idiot.
Also the brakes would still work without the servo, you'd just need to use both feet and your body weight.
Also the brakes would still work without the servo, you'd just need to use both feet and your body weight.
turn the car off
Right steering wouldnt be too much of a problem provided the steering lock didnt engaged (shouldnt be a problem)
Brakes.... i fail to see why he would need these as when engine is off.. what is it thats pushing him along now?..... he will just roll to pretty much a stop.. then engage the handbrake ta da stopped...
He said on the audio interview that the police told him to keep on the a1... but surely they knew a roundabout was approaching... would the motorway M1 (i belive.. ) not of been a better option..
I dunno.. dont think anyone police or this guy was ready for this to happen... so they cocked it all up
Right steering wouldnt be too much of a problem provided the steering lock didnt engaged (shouldnt be a problem)
Brakes.... i fail to see why he would need these as when engine is off.. what is it thats pushing him along now?..... he will just roll to pretty much a stop.. then engage the handbrake ta da stopped...
He said on the audio interview that the police told him to keep on the a1... but surely they knew a roundabout was approaching... would the motorway M1 (i belive.. ) not of been a better option..
I dunno.. dont think anyone police or this guy was ready for this to happen... so they cocked it all up
Associate
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well i have not read all the way though but for god sake why did he not turn the ignition off , BMW 318 autos lock up the torque converter about 55 mph so the engine would still be turning but not under power , thus PAS pump still going ,engine still rotating still pulling a vacuum thus brakes still Ok
To me the guy was a dimbo , hey at 135mph could any of you have used a moblile phone ? . did we not have this with a lorry driver awhile ago ( they found nothing wrong with that )
To me the guy was a dimbo , hey at 135mph could any of you have used a moblile phone ? . did we not have this with a lorry driver awhile ago ( they found nothing wrong with that )
Enfield said:
Exactly, to all these people preaching how he acted like a moron, you were not there, you are just sitting infront of your PC thinking about it logically. When you're in the car yourself, scared of crashing etc, you won't think as clearly.
NathanE said:
Yes, totally true mate. But, he isn't an idiot for not doing them, he was in a dangerous and unpredictable situation. Common sense and logical ideas don't always flood into your head during times like that.
The police also told him not to, he trusted an officer(s) of the law who he presumed knew better.
He isn't an idiot.
Soldato
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Agree with iCraig, he was on the phone to the police who gave him instructions which he followed. If he should have switched the engine off, fair enough, but the police didn't tell him to do that so maybe some of the blame lies with them.
Clarkey said:
He was told to leave the engine turned on by the police.
He was scared of dying, so of course he's going to do as he is told if he thinks that will help him survive.
Go drive down the motorway at 130mph with no brakes and come back and tell me it wasn't unpredictable.
its hardly unpredicable. I would be able to predict that with failed brakes, nothing would happen if i pressed the brake pedal. Anyway, how is it possibly a better idea to speed along at 130 with no brakes then to shut the engine off and slow down?
Clarkey said:
Sigh, I'm not saying its a better idea. I'm saying that we can't really have a go at him for not doing all these things, when we didn't experience the situation ourselves. It reminded me of a post an another forum where a chap posted how he was just held up at gun point for his mobile phone.
People posted back reponses like "I would have nutted him, or kicked it out of his hands" etc etc.
Its easy to talk about doing the right things when you don't have to worry about iminent death.
Whilst I agree with the fact that he was probably browning himself at the time I think its a fair comment to make that part of driving is coping with spur of the moment occurances where you need to react rationally and quickly despite the posibility of your impending doom!
