I smell a lawsuit...

[wantin150]

http://www.thestate.com/156/story/71653.html

Article is from our local paper. This one isn't as detailed as others but from what I have read, witnesses are saying that when the lady started the engine, it immediately went into a high rev condition. She then shifted out of park and into reverse while the engine was still at high rpm.

I thought that most vehicles had to have the brake depressed to shift out of park. If this is the case, then the lady would have had to have double footed the brake and gas at the same time. Or the vehicle malfunctioned. Or the witnesses are wrong. Or there was some medical condition. My wife and I were discussing the possibilities and I am curious as to what you folks think.

 

[Master ACiD]

not all automatics need the brake depressed to shift. my stratus has no brake interlock. i can shift that thing from p to autostick and back to p without touching the brake.

 

[wantin150]

Update:

http://www.thestate.com/136/story/72274.html

Confirms one of the speculations. I am still curious about the possible vehicle connection. I guess we will find out in time.

 

[Laminar Lou]

Not saying this is what happened...

one time when I was young and stupid I lost traction on a left turn and ended up spinning out quite impressively. As I tried to control the skid I realized that I was mashing on the accelerator. I was only mashing on the accelerator for a second, but it doesn't take long to get yourself into trouble in a short amount of time. All I am saying is that I have experienced first hand what it is like to panic and push the wrong thing. The thing that happened in the Farmers Market in Santa Monica sticks in my mind: CNN story

 

[Brogy]

Where I work an elderly woman in the parking lot had a heart attack in her car, and did the same thing. Only difference is she hit a car, and totalled it.

 

[defeated]

I don't know if something similar happpened here, but I once got the floormat wedged under the accelerator of my Thunderbird - very scary, and it took me too long to figure out what was going on. I gave it some gas to accelerate from a stop when the light turned green but got cut off by another driver. To my complete suprise, I was unable to slow the car's acceleration by taking my foot off the gas or tapping the brake. I stood on the brake pedal with both feet and the car kept accelerating. I had to weave frantically through traffic, intending to stomp the e-brake once I was clear, then I felt the problem with my foot. The top of the mat had curled up somehow and was wrapped around the stem of the gas pedal. After I yanked the floormat down, I was able to slow down and pull over to dump the mat in the nearest trash can. I would have never guessed that something like that could happen, and just glancing around down didn't reveal the problem - I thought for sure something was stuck under the brake pedal. It was over quick, but if I'd had less time to work out what was happening, and less room to try to get out of the way of other cars, it could have ended badly.

 

[Gary Allan]

We had a massive downpour that didn't last that long in duration. I was driving, in the sun ..@ 55-60 mph (speed limit 55) when I saw an elongated dip in the road that was flooded. I released the brakes before I hit the 100ft long puddle and didn't have any issues other than slowing down very quickly. After that, my idle was very high. I checked everything. I pulled the pedal up. I opened the hood and manually manipulated the valve body. Something was keeping the throttle slighty open. After a bit, I really poked around and, apparently, during the rapid decel event, a small object had flown up into the pedal linkage at a point that was totally out of sight.


I never want to ever have a car that drives by wire. Sorry. I don't care about the statistics/probabilities. When it's you, it's 100%.

 

[Bob Woods]

Years ago I owned an Audi and a pair of shoes that were wide, I learned to quit wearing those shoes when driving the Audi as the brake pedal was too close to the footfeed, I would put on the brake and my shoe would catch the footfeed. More than once I had to shove it in neutral. The lady was old and very likely not a really great driver. People get flustered and stomp on the wrong pedal and forget to shift to neutral.

 

[brianl703]

It'd be interesting to look at the brake light bulbs on that car. If they were damaged in the impact AND they were on at the time, there will be a white powdery residue all over the remains of the bulb as the oxygen combined with the filament to form what I can only assume is tungsten oxide.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, smash a lightbulb while it's on.

 

[Aldaris]

I'd blame the old woman before I'd blame the car. It wasn't an AUDI (Accelerates Under Demonic Influence) after all

 

[moribundman]

Quote:

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Years ago I owned an Audi and a pair of shoes that were wide, I learned to quit wearing those shoes when driving the Audi as the brake pedal was too close to the footfeed, I would put on the brake and my shoe would catch the footfeed.

---

I finally know why so many American cars have pedals fit for clown shoes. There are just so many bozos.

 

[Tosh]

Linky no worky no more. Searched like crazy on that website, but found nothing. What's the poop?

 

[moribundman]

Sounded like someone couldn't tell gas and brake pedal apart. One would think cause and effect would have given the driver an instant clue...

 

[Shannow]

A neighbour did that about 30 years ago, and crushed her daughter against a shop wall...nasty.

 

[Kestas]

Mori, the sad truth is that in the Audi-type cases, the person's brain is confused and cannot comprehend what is going on. The driver sincerely believes his foot is on the brake and not on the gas, and the brain instinctively tells the driver to press harder.

This all came out in the aftermath from the rash of Audi incidents 20 years ago.

 

[simple_gifts]

Your perception creates the reality....

 

[moribundman]

Quote:

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the person's brain is confused and cannot comprehend what is going on. The driver sincerely believes his foot is on the brake and not on the gas, and the brain instinctively tells the driver to press harder.

---

Idiots shouldn't be licensed.