Toyota stares at the floorboards

[ShadowDog]

I can't think of any other way to die from something less significant.

Linkity

If it were an aftermarket product, that's another thing. Still, what a way to go.

[67impss]

This shows the sad state of driving in this country of lately. This family would be alive today if the driver would have just turned the ignition off. The government has relaxed the requirements allowing 15.5 year olds to get a temp lic & without even taking the laws test.

[longtooth]

I installed the soft plastic lip-type mats, designed as a catch-all for wintertime slop, in my 1996 GMC Sonoma Highrider pick-up in early December 1995. I installed the driver's side mat incorrectly right over the accelerator pedal. It worked fine at first but I soon became annoyed that at idle the motor was doing 1500-1800 rpms. What's up with that thought I. (?) And then, through a closer inspection, I realized what I'd done. Be forewarned.

[Croc]

This shows the sad state of driving in this country of lately. This family would be alive today if the driver would have just turned the ignition off. The government has relaxed the requirements allowing 15.5 year olds to get a temp lic & without even taking the laws test.

NO! That is NOT AT ALL what you are supposed to do in that situation!!!!!! Ever hear of steering wheel lock? Now you have a speeding missile YOU CANNOT CONTROL! Also, these cars have the push-button ignition, and I don't think they knew how to turn it off.

What an intelligent, informed person does in this situation is throw the transmission into neutral and steer to the side of the road/shoulder and apply the brakes.

I remember hearing about this, happened down near San Diego. So sad. Damn lucky no one was killed outside of the vehicle either--they crashed at the end of a freeway ramp and it's frankly miraculous a) there wasn't a queue at the light to plow into, and b) no cross-traffic in the way. They literally flew off the T intersection, into some scrub grass so far off the road you couldn't see the car from the road, and promptly burst into flames. Such a tragedy.

[siegen]

I'm surprised they had the time and state of mind to call 911 and talk to the operator, yet not be able to put it in neutral.

I've never tried it, but shouldn't the brakes be able to slow the car down even with the throttle pressed? I doubt it was running at full throttle unless the driver had it at full throttle when the floor mat got stuck on it. Given the the fact that he had time to call 911 I bet it was only at part throttle, and the car was slowly building up speed over a decent amount of time.

A good reason why everybody should be driving manual transmission. Enough with this automatic BS.

Very bad press for Toyota. Something that may have been the dealer's fault for putting the wrong floor mats in.

[Justin Bimmer]

The article says a California Highway Patrol officer was in the car. Makes me wonder if he was driving or his wife was driving. CHP officers should know what to do in that situation. Although being in a loaner car that is unfamiliar to them, it may have made it more difficult.

[SAmadei]

NO! That is NOT AT ALL what you are supposed to do in that situation!!!!!! Ever hear of steering wheel lock? Now you have a speeding missile YOU CANNOT CONTROL! Also, these cars have the push-button ignition, and I don't think they knew how to turn it off.

Most cars can be turned off without locking the wheel... and if the wheel does lock, you still have the keys in the ignition and it take only a couple fractions of a second to unlock.

For the record, I have had floormat jammed around accelerator enough times over the years, and at least twice had to kill the ignition, pull over, get out of the car and unjam it.

What an intelligent, informed person does in this situation is throw the transmission into neutral and steer to the side of the road/shoulder and apply the brakes.

They probably did that... and the engine redlined. Either fear that they would blow up the engine (and have to pay for it) or that the engine would blow up in a Hollywood-style explosion killing everyone for a quarter mile popped into their heads and they put it back in gear.

Granted, I will blow up the engine before crashing into anything major... but I would have turned off the car with the ignition.

I remember hearing about this, happened down near San Diego. So sad. Damn lucky no one was killed outside of the vehicle either--they crashed at the end of a freeway ramp and it's frankly miraculous a) there wasn't a queue at the light to plow into, and b) no cross-traffic in the way. They literally flew off the T intersection, into some scrub grass so far off the road you couldn't see the car from the road, and promptly burst into flames. Such a tragedy.

Tragedy for the passengers... the driver should have had better sense or not been behind the wheel. This is why we need better driver's testing. In the end this boils down the same as the McDonalds hot coffee episode... big company hand clueless person a gun and person blows their own foot off.

When my floormats jammed the accelerator, I didn't feel the need to sue anybody.

[Drew Dowdell]

1. shift to neutral.

2. click engine off

3. click ignition back on

4. press brakes

[SAmadei]

1. shift to neutral.

2. click engine off

3. click ignition back on

4. press brakes

Step 3 is iffy. While most modern cars aren't supposed to be able to be push started, I have found that some automatic transmission cars can restart coasting in neutral at higher speeds by just putting the ignition on.

I found this out by turning the engine off after overheating, but trying to keep the electric fans running. Not sure why, but it sure surprised the hell out of me. Its happened in two different cars, but I can't remember which.

You know, after thinking about this... I wonder if anyone has ever tested just laying on the brakes with a stuck throttle? During the Audi unintended acceleration hoopla, there was considerable testing of the brakes in the theory that the brakes should be strong enough to hold the car even at full throttle... which it did. However, they never tested holding the brakes at high speed and full throttle... where the brakes have to overcome the engine _and_ the stored kinetic energy of a car moving at 100 mph. Mythbusters?

[Robert Hall]

Never had a stuck accelerator, but I've had a broken accelerator..would only work if pushed all the way down.

My first instinct in an automatic would be to try to shift to neutral, park or reverse with the brakes to the floor..with a manual, shift to neutral.

Sad story.

[aaaantoine]

My gas pedal got stuck under the floormat in the Achieva once. Scared the crap out of me.

I was on a side street (in fact, just down the block from my house at the time), so the conditions surrounding the scenario were optimal. What I did to fix it was,

1. Apply brakes (in a panic)

2. Shift to Neutral (once I thought of it)

3. Continue to apply brakes.

4. Investigate gas pedal, observe that it was stuck under the floor mat.

5. Unstick gas pedal.

6. Take a minute to catch my breath.

7. Make a mental note to never needlessly floor the gas going down a side street again.

[capriceman]

I dont think Toyota deserves any blame for this. It is very sad though. I guess shock and panic took over.

[Justin Bimmer]

Toyota deserves the blame that the wrong floor mat was in the car which the dealerships were giving out as a loaner. It is just like any other design defect. There is an issue of strict liability and negligence here.

[capriceman]

even then its most likely the dealers fault because most mats are dealer installed anyway.

[Drew Dowdell]

Step 3 is iffy. While most modern cars aren't supposed to be able to be push started, I have found that some automatic transmission cars can restart coasting in neutral at higher speeds by just putting the ignition on.

Pushstarting by coasting in neutral? There was something more wrong there than just an overheated engine......

[capriceman]

Step 3 is iffy. While most modern cars aren't supposed to be able to be push started, I have found that some automatic transmission cars can restart coasting in neutral at higher speeds by just putting the ignition on.

I found this out by turning the engine off after overheating, but trying to keep the electric fans running. Not sure why, but it sure surprised the hell out of me. Its happened in two different cars, but I can't remember which.

You know, after thinking about this... I wonder if anyone has ever tested just laying on the brakes with a stuck throttle? During the Audi unintended acceleration hoopla, there was considerable testing of the brakes in the theory that the brakes should be strong enough to hold the car even at full throttle... which it did. However, they never tested holding the brakes at high speed and full throttle... where the brakes have to overcome the engine _and_ the stored kinetic energy of a car moving at 100 mph. Mythbusters?

I did this a lunch in the caprice on the industrial drive I was doing 50 and punched the gas and brake at the same time and the front tires lock and the back tires spin once the car is below 15 mph thus resulting in brake torqing and lots of smoke. Pretty cool wish i had a pic.

[Croc]

I'm surprised they had the time and state of mind to call 911 and talk to the operator, yet not be able to put it in neutral.

I've never tried it, but shouldn't the brakes be able to slow the car down even with the throttle pressed? I doubt it was running at full throttle unless the driver had it at full throttle when the floor mat got stuck on it. Given the the fact that he had time to call 911 I bet it was only at part throttle, and the car was slowly building up speed over a decent amount of time.

A good reason why everybody should be driving manual transmission. Enough with this automatic BS.

Very bad press for Toyota. Something that may have been the dealer's fault for putting the wrong floor mats in.

According to the 911 call, they said they had a stuck accelerator and bad brakes and were going 100 mph.

Shifting into neutral would eliminate the engine throttle from the equation, and the brakes, no matter how bad, would get the car to stop.

Most cars can be turned off without locking the wheel... and if the wheel does lock, you still have the keys in the ignition and it take only a couple fractions of a second to unlock.

For the record, I have had floormat jammed around accelerator enough times over the years, and at least twice had to kill the ignition, pull over, get out of the car and unjam it.

They probably did that... and the engine redlined. Either fear that they would blow up the engine (and have to pay for it) or that the engine would blow up in a Hollywood-style explosion killing everyone for a quarter mile popped into their heads and they put it back in gear.

No, they hadn't. They had just recently picked up the rental car, probably didn't know how to work everything in it very well, and according to local reports had no idea what to do so they called 911. Maybe they "knew" what to do, but didn't know how to actually do it in that car.

I highly doubt the engine would explode "Hollywood-style"

Granted, I will blow up the engine before crashing into anything major... but I would have turned off the car with the ignition.

Tragedy for the passengers... the driver should have had better sense or not been behind the wheel. This is why we need better driver's testing. In the end this boils down the same as the McDonalds hot coffee episode... big company hand clueless person a gun and person blows their own foot off.

When my floormats jammed the accelerator, I didn't feel the need to sue anybody.

Sweet, good to know that you are intimately familiar with every single working of every car out there so that you NEVER are unfamiliar with a rental car. I bet you're every travelling companion's dream!

[Camino LS6]

Driver failure/error, and that's all there is to it.

I'd love to lay this one at Toyota's door, but the driver panicked and did not handle the situation in what is an obvious way by putting the car into nuetral.

Just a few months ago, I experienced a stuck throttle in my wagon due to a broken throttle return spring. I had just punched the gas for some rapid accelleration and it stuck when I lifted my foot. I had the car in nuetral without a concious thought in a split second. I then managed to kick the RPMs down by tapping at the pedal. I put the car in gear and lightly tapped the Rs back up a bit and used it as cruise control to get home.

At no time was the car out of my control.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Camino LS6

[Justin Bimmer]

Ok, I had to go and get more information on this as the OP's article is lacking in details.

More Detailed Article

Preliminary evidence suggests that the wrong model of all-weather rubber mat was in place on the driver's side of a 2009 Lexus ES 350 being driven by CHP Officer Mark Saylor at the time of the Aug. 28 accident on state Route 125.

So a highly trained CHP officer was behind the wheel of this car when this happened. I fail to see how all the blame can be assigned to him for this accident.

The car then burst into flames, burning the occupants beyond recognition.

I guess there was some type of Hollywood style explosion.

In 2007, Toyota, which manufactures the Lexus line of vehicles, conducted a safety recall on all-weather floor mats for late-model Camry and ES 350 models, due to the potential that the accessories could interfere with the cars' accelerator pedals if improperly used, according to the automaker.

It looks like Toyota has had problems with floor mats in the past. So, maybe it isn't only the driver's fault.

Witnesses told San Diego 6 News they saw fire coming from the wheels of the 2009 Lexus ES 350 before it crashed. That indicated "long, constant, heavy braking," said San Diego Sheriff's lead investigator Scott Hill in an interview with the U-T.

It looks like the Highway Patrolmen was trying to stop the car the best he could.

Hill thinks Saylor had trouble with the car's accelerator about five miles before reaching Mission Gorge Road. Several people called 911 to report the car was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic with its emergency flashers on.

Hill told the Union-Tribune there was prolonged “heavy, heavy, hard braking.”

“He did everything he could to stop that car,” he said.

Saylor, a 19-year CHP veteran, must have worked extremely hard to maneuver the Lexus to avoid other cars on the heavily traveled roadway, only hitting the one vehicle, Hill told the paper.

“We were very lucky that there were not more deaths,” Hill said.

Investigators say they don't know if officer Saylor tried to shift the car into neutral or if he tried to shut off the engine.

The National Highway Transporatation Safety Administraton recall report from 2007 found some Lexus drivers with stuck accelerators tried to turn off the car with the engine control button but didn't know the button must be held for three seconds.

Would of helped if the 19 year CHP vet was more familiar with the car. But, even still, people who owned the cars couldn't get them to turn off either.

Makes me wonder if there was some sort of neutral lock on the car to keep people from putting the car into neutral to prevent it from blowing up the engine on accident.

[Intrepidation]

Driver failure/error, and that's all there is to it.

I'd love to lay this one at Toyota's door, but the driver panicked and did not handle the situation in what is an obvious way by putting the car into nuetral.

Just a few months ago, I experienced a stuck throttle in my wagon due to a broken throttle return spring. I had just punched the gas for some rapid accelleration and it stuck when I lifted my foot. I had the car in nuetral without a concious thought in a split second. I then managed to kick the RPMs down by tapping at the pedal. I put the car in gear and lightly tapped the Rs back up a bit and used it as cruise control to get home.

At no time was the car out of my control.

This.

I've had a floor mat get stuck under the Prizm's accelerator before. Granted it's not a pocket rocket anyway, but all that need to be done was put it in neutral and apply the brakes, pull over and get the floor mat out

If the Lexus had a neutral lockout though, that would be an entirely different story.

[Camino LS6]

If There is a "nuetral lockout", then I'd have to blame Toyota.

Lacking that, the driver just panicked and kept his foot on the brakes until they were gone instead of doing something that works.

Sad and tragic, but this one is all on the driver.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Camino LS6

[Camino LS6]

It just occurred to me that this could have been intentional...

[ShadowDog]

It just occurred to me that this could have been intentional...

Curious. How do you mean?

[Camino LS6]

Curious. How do you mean?

I guess I've seen too many CSI re-runs, but this could have been a murder-suicide.

If a "trained CHP officer" couldn't figure out putting the car into nuetral...

Well, sad no matter how it happened.

[ShadowDog]

The concept of neutral-lock is the stupidest design feature I have ever heard of. I fail to understand why the driver did not have the sense to even consider dropping to lower gears. The engine would eventually have blown and the car would have been significantly easier to slow down. I suppose it all comes down to panic and lack of clear thinking in an emergency situation. Bummer.

Anyhow, speculation on murder-suicide is easy for us to consider. Heck, considering the circumstances and all the questions we have, why rule it out?

Edited September 22, 2009 by ShadowDog

[Robert Hall]

I guess I've seen too many CSI re-runs, but this could have been a murder-suicide.

That's the trend these days, what with the economy..would be a dramatic way to take one's self and family out...though I would think a cop would have just used a gun.

[Camino LS6]

Sort of pathetic, no matter how you look at it.

[capriceman]

he had 5 Miles to stop a car besides most cars limti revs in neutral anyway. Try to rev a G6 in neutral and it will hold at 3500-4000 rpms. No excuse he should have been able to put it to neutral and use the emergency brake.

[SAmadei]

he had 5 Miles to stop a car besides most cars limti revs in neutral anyway. Try to rev a G6 in neutral and it will hold at 3500-4000 rpms. No excuse he should have been able to put it to neutral and use the emergency brake.

Great point... I didn't even think of the rev limiter. They definitely could have put it in neutral and coasted to a stop and shut off the car with no harm.

[SAmadei]

Pushstarting by coasting in neutral? There was something more wrong there than just an overheated engine......

Apparently coasting at 55~70 mph in neutral with a 200-4R or a 700-R4 spins the engine enough that a hot engine can recatch. Both cars were part of my regular rotation and drove fine for tens of thousands of miles afterward. I still have all of my cars, if you want to inspect if I brainstorm to recall which two they were, but they likely are not running.

No, they hadn't. They had just recently picked up the rental car, probably didn't know how to work everything in it very well, and according to local reports had no idea what to do so they called 911. Maybe they "knew" what to do, but didn't know how to actually do it in that car.

Sweet, good to know that you are intimately familiar with every single working of every car out there so that you NEVER are unfamiliar with a rental car. I bet you're every travelling companion's dream!

There is a time and place to learn how to use all the pertinent features of a car... the parking lot... right after clicking the seatbelt and before adjusting the mirrors. Then there is common sense... which isn't so common anymore.

As a matter of fact, I AM a traveling companions dream... I have figured out how to work EVERY rental/test drive/junker I have come across... and that's a lot. Plus I can read a map and repair it by the side of the road well enough to limp most of them home.

I still have not completely figured out the track loader Dad left me... no steering wheel, just about 6 sticks and a 6-way joystick. I have narrowed down most of the features by following the hydraulics... but I'm not taking it on the road until I have it down pat, either.

I highly doubt the engine would explode "Hollywood-style"

I said they would fear it exploding "Hollywood-style". I KNOW what a blowing engine is like... I still have the shrapnel.

If the Lexus had a neutral lockout though, that would be an entirely different story.

Not sure I'm getting this bit...

Cars have had neutral lockouts for years... in fact, I think it's required to get through NJ inspection. I don't see how it would affect this... they would just push the button on the side or angle the lever left/right to get out of neutral.

[Croc]

Ok, I had to go and get more information on this as the OP's article is lacking in details.

More Detailed Article

So a highly trained CHP officer was behind the wheel of this car when this happened. I fail to see how all the blame can be assigned to him for this accident.

I guess there was some type of Hollywood style explosion.

It looks like Toyota has had problems with floor mats in the past. So, maybe it isn't only the driver's fault.

It looks like the Highway Patrolmen was trying to stop the car the best he could.

Hill thinks Saylor had trouble with the car's accelerator about five miles before reaching Mission Gorge Road. Several people called 911 to report the car was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic with its emergency flashers on.

Hill told the Union-Tribune there was prolonged “heavy, heavy, hard braking.”

“He did everything he could to stop that car,” he said.

Saylor, a 19-year CHP veteran, must have worked extremely hard to maneuver the Lexus to avoid other cars on the heavily traveled roadway, only hitting the one vehicle, Hill told the paper.

“We were very lucky that there were not more deaths,” Hill said.

Would of helped if the 19 year CHP vet was more familiar with the car. But, even still, people who owned the cars couldn't get them to turn off either.

Makes me wonder if there was some sort of neutral lock on the car to keep people from putting the car into neutral to prevent it from blowing up the engine on accident.

Nice--that's a far more informative article than I found shortly after it happened and I wanted more than the KTLA blurb.

[capriceman]

Apparently coasting at 55~70 mph in neutral with a 200-4R or a 700-R4 spins the engine enough that a hot engine can re catch. Both cars were part of my regular rotation and drove fine for tens of thousands of miles afterward. I still have all of my cars, if you want to inspect if I brainstorm to recall which two they were, but they likely are not running.

For a fact I know the 2 models you listed will not engage the the engine n neutral at all or ever. I tested the 200 4r yesterday on the freeway and I owned a car with the 700 and never noticed it. Since, while driving i like to put my cars in neutral and rev them, its cheap entertainment. What happened in your case since the engine was overheating was a rare phenomenon called dieseling. very common in older gm's with electrical issues. old neighbor had a 83 caprice that would do it. He would shut of the car and get out and the engine would continue to run in a misfire state for a good 2-3 minutes. However, if the car is carbureted and its Hot then gas can continue to flow freely and the engine is so hot combustion occurs with out spark hence the name dieseling. This can occur in any make of car, even carbureted lawn equipment. Im willing to bet this is what happened, but i have been wrong before.

[97regalGS]

i personally had a the same thing to happen to me as a 16year old. i was driving a 1980 chevtte and the floor slipped over the accelerator. as a rookier driver, (with half a brain and some common sense) I popped the console gear $h!er into neutral, the engine revved like hell, then i reached down, grabbed the floor map and pulled it back (took a few seconds to figure out what the problem was).

was a little scarry for a minute.

I seem to recall when the audi scenario played out, it was indicated that a car's engine system can NOT overpower a car's braking system (in the short term untl the brakes get cooked).

[siegen]

So has anyone driven the '09 ES350 in question and tested to see if the engine can be put into neutral and/or shut-off while driving?

Because until then, all this speculation about what the driver could have or should have done is mute.

[The O.C.]

NO! That is NOT AT ALL what you are supposed to do in that situation!!!!!! Ever hear of steering wheel lock? Now you have a speeding missile YOU CANNOT CONTROL! Also, these cars have the push-button ignition, and I don't think they knew how to turn it off.

What an intelligent, informed person does in this situation is throw the transmission into neutral and steer to the side of the road/shoulder and apply the brakes.

I remember hearing about this, happened down near San Diego. So sad. Damn lucky no one was killed outside of the vehicle either--they crashed at the end of a freeway ramp and it's frankly miraculous a) there wasn't a queue at the light to plow into, and b) no cross-traffic in the way. They literally flew off the T intersection, into some scrub grass so far off the road you couldn't see the car from the road, and promptly burst into flames. Such a tragedy.

Oh boy does this hit home for me. I had such an experience just before leaving Las Vegas.....had a test drive with this gal in a CTS-V (in the rain I might add.)

She was driving, we were going down a back road.....she was being actually quite restrained with the throttle because it was wet and slick out.

At a stop light, we stopped....ahead about a 1/2 mile or so down this back road was Jones Avenue....a major, four lane, divided road in the city. She took off from the stoplight.....gave maybe part throttle....then the car just shot forward at full throttle. Now, 1/2-3/4 mile gives a CTS-V alot of room to gather some major speed....afterwards (thank GOD there was an afterwards) she said she saw the speedo hit 100mph before we entered the intersection of Jones Avenue.

During the time the car was accelerating, she started screaming "My God the car won't stop...." and I looked over and saw her shoving firmly on the brake pedal. We came upon Jones Avenue with traffic passing both directions.....entered the intersection, she swerved to the left to try to make the turn (unlikly anyway in the rain and at the speed we were going) and we of course understeered to the right, ran into a curb, up a landscaped embankment, into a parking lot of a strip-shopping center, and stopped after we slammed into a parked Jeep.

Now......things happen so quickly (especially in a 556hp CTS-V) that between the time I started realizing we were in trouble and the time we came up upon the busy intersection....as she entered the intersection and tried to swerve, I slammed the gear$h! from my seat up into "Park." Thanks to this, by the time we hit the Jeep, we were going slow enough that the airbags didn't even deploy.

After seeing everyone was okay.....except for some frayed nerves.....I noticed that the floormat had slipped up and jammed the accelerator to the floor. It must have happened when we were at a stop, her foot on the brake, and when she moved her foot to the gas pedal, her heels must have dug in and shoved the floor mat up and over the throttle pedal.

After the fact, the ironic thing was.....was how undamaged the CTS-V was...!!!!! Front end damage was minor and as we pulled the car up onto the tow truck, undercarriage damage was minor to non-existent! Aside from the four flat tires and ruined rims....the car was easily repairable. This amazed us considering 1) the speed we were going when we impacted the large curb and 2) the size of the embankment and the substantial landscaping we plowed through (consisting of small, 3-4foot palm trees we plowed over.)

To this day.....that was the day an angel was looking over me. SOMEHOW we missed every single car, going either direction, in that intersection.....not only that, no one else got into an accident trying to avoid US.....

So....ironic this Toyota story and the floormats. I still believe the responsibility lies in the consumer, not Toyota.....we've had cars with floormats for decades that lacked any sort of "plug" or "attachment" to keep it in place (even my CTS mats just "lie" there.)

[The O.C.]

Shifting into neutral would eliminate the engine throttle from the equation, and the brakes, no matter how bad, would get the car to stop.

No, they hadn't. They had just recently picked up the rental car, probably didn't know how to work everything in it very well, and according to local reports had no idea what to do so they called 911. Maybe they "knew" what to do, but didn't know how to actually do it in that car.

A couple things don't make sense to me. In my situation, I wasn't driving.....and the time between when the car took off and our approach to danger in the intersection was such a SHORT time, you really don't think fast enough.....I at least shoved the gear shift into Park.....but even I question myself as to why I didn't think to try to turn off the engine.....or push the parking brake button....?

BUT....in their case.....if someone had the TIME to make a phone call (to 911) I figure SOMEONE would have had time to get hold of their senses and, yes, try to shut off the engine, engage the parking brake, shift to neutral, shift to park, etc.......just seems wierd in THIS case....

[The O.C.]

Hill thinks Saylor had trouble with the car's accelerator about five miles before reaching Mission Gorge Road. Several people called 911 to report the car was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic with its emergency flashers on.

See.....I'm sorry.....if that's true, 5 miles is an enormous amount of room for even a driving dimwit to figure out how to stop the car.....

[The O.C.]

The concept of neutral-lock is the stupidest design feature I have ever heard of. I fail to understand why the driver did not have the sense to even consider dropping to lower gears. The engine would eventually have blown and the car would have been significantly easier to slow down. I suppose it all comes down to panic and lack of clear thinking in an emergency situation. Bummer.

The problem with shifting to a lower gear.....is if the car is revving too fast for the safety of the internals of the engine, modern computer systems would have electronically over-ridden the downshift.....

[CaddyXLR-V]

See, that's another reason why manuals are safer than automatics. Step on the clutch and take it out of gear. No computer system can override that.

[Camino LS6]

The more I think about this incident, the less absurd my murder-suicide scenario seems to me.

I just can't get past the fact that the driver was an experienced CHP officer and that he had 5 miles to get the car stopped.

I just can't get that to scan.

[A Horse With No Name]

The more I think about this incident, the less absurd my murder-suicide scenario seems to me.

I just can't get past the fact that the driver was an experienced CHP officer and that he had 5 miles to get the car stopped.

I just can't get that to scan.

No, I can't either. Unless we add the possible cause of demons or fairys or some other bs that makes no rational sense.

Even running the car into a concrete divider at an angle under heavy braking would have eventually slowed the car down or damaged it enough that it wouldn't prograss forward.

Chris

[Croc]

Ehhhhh...as someone who frequently drives on California freeways, I'm going to just throw something out there:

They were probably driving somewhere around 80+ to begin with, and traffic was probably moving decently (this is quite common--I was going 95 on the 110 earlier today for a few miles). Traffic probably started to slow, and he realized they were having a hard time slowing the car down. He probably hit the brakes hard, and then continued to press harder and harder as the brakes wore down and eventually started shooting flames because they were shot. At this point, the car is speeding out of control, and is flying by at a rate of about 120mph...or 1 mile every 30 seconds. Panic has probably set in, and the call to 9-1-1 is made as the officer frantically tries to just avoid hitting the much-slower traffic because he knows he would probably kill them if he did. Not knowing how to turn the car off probably threw him for a loop, and in this state of confusion and panic didn't think to throw it into neutral.

That's how I'm guessing it went down. Also, as to why he didn't steer into the center barrier, well, the 125 doesn't have a concrete center barrier. Being a more rural freeway, its lanes are separated by a wide drainage ditch flanked with a standard wooden post guardrail and wide left shoulders. The overpass structures are also separate structures for each travel direction with a gap between, so just another reason steering toward the center would not have been adviseable.

[Chicagoland]

Dont know if anyone has one of the Toyota's under the recall, but my folks have an '07 Avalon. Step-dad checked and the drver floor mat hook is broken. This may be the root cause...