Unintended Acceleration Toyota Camry

[Shannow]

Workmate's father in Law lost his right leg due to circulation problems, and had his Camry modified to a left foot throttle (can be positioned either side with the mod).

Workmate went to drive the car up the the wheelchai ramp from way back in the carpark.

Reversed out, drove up to the wheelchair ramp, and went to pull up.

As he stopped, he instinctively, as there was a pedal beneath his left foot "dipped the clutch"...which was the accelerator.

Naturally the vehicle leaped forwards under full throttle.

This guy is extremeley mechanically literate, but his instincts were to keep the clutch in, and the brake pressed, as the car started hurtling.

After a brief period, he realised his confusion, and released all pedals, look back down at his feet (hard to do when moving, and lots of things/people to run into), and apply the brake.

Talking this morning, he was very clear in his mind that he KNEW he was on the brake and the clutch, and had no idea why the car was hurtling...until he dropped the controls and re-assessed his position.

 

[The_Eric]

Good to hear that he had the presence of mind to get both feet off of the pedals and that he's okay. I can see how he would have gotten confused.

 

[ZeeOSix]

What year Camry? If it had the gas pedal & brake pedal interlock feature in the ECU that probably wouldn't have happened.

 

[M1Accord]

So it wasn't the car fault but rather a obsolete manual driver trying to be sporty with the ramp. Go figure.

 

[Shannow]

Wasn't trying to be sorty, just went to push in the "clutch" that was the accelerator.

Then mind couldn't comprehend why his "normal" actions resulted in a runaway.

This Camry is a few years old, and has throttle cable rather than DBW

 

[M1Accord]

Again, why is the car at fault? The stick man can't drive.

 

[KrisZ]

This case is totally irrelevant as the pedals were reversed, but goes to show that some of those UA cases could've been caused by pedal mix-up, and untrained/panicky people will continue pressing the wrong pedal, although thinking it's the right one, without trying to re-assess the situation.

OP's workmate showed that he is a good driver and can keep a cool head, something that cannot be said for majority of the drivers in NA.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
Again, why is the car at fault? The stick man can't drive.


Where have I said that the car was at fault ?

His mental dialogue was telling him that he was doing everything to slow the vehicle, until he abandoned his normal thought process, rebooted and started again.

Just like my neighbour when I was 6 who ran over her daughter at a parking meter with BOTH feet on the brake of her carburetted throttle cabled kingswood.