Man killed because his cruise control wouldn't switch off!
Discussion
Zod said:
I don't believe there is a single car on the market now or in the past thirty years on which the accelerator pedal is moved by the cruise control.
My old 4.0L XJ Cherokees all did it. You could actually feel the pedal moving away from your foot and then back when you turned it off (or stamped on the brake pedal).bigkeeko said:
Zod said:
I don't believe there is a single car on the market now or in the past thirty years on which the accelerator pedal is moved by the cruise control.
My old 4.0L XJ Cherokees all did it. You could actually feel the pedal moving away from your foot and then back when you turned it off (or stamped on the brake pedal).Blue Oval84 said:
Isn't all this talk overlooking the point that he was driving a manual car (I think) and could have just yanked it out of gear? Even an auto let's you slip it into neutral.
There is no way that any combination of faults could have caused this IMO, it was driver error, intentional or otherwise.
Indeed, the footbrake system is mechanical, though ECU errors or malfunctions may degrade them, they will still work well enough to overcome the engine. In this case there was no evidence of any braking fault, it appears they weren't applied.There is no way that any combination of faults could have caused this IMO, it was driver error, intentional or otherwise.
I can't see any combination of electrical or mechanical errors that could cause this. As you day driver error.
xjay1337 said:
How modern? Nothing designed in this century will do that I'm sure.
Definitely not, I have driven one, it's very disconcerting. I started driving in 2000 and it was either a hire car in 2008, which was a Clio estate diesel, or a work pool car in 2004-2006 which was a Mondeo mark 3, I know this as those are the only times I drove a car that wasn't my own.
Zod said:
Automatics go PRNDxyz.
Brake pedals are mechanical. He could and should have braked as hard as he could.
I agree with this. I have 570HP under the bonnet and I am confident that the brakes would stop the car if I pushed both pedals down fully.Brake pedals are mechanical. He could and should have braked as hard as he could.
It could be a bit messy, though.
I was in a similar situation once in a Lexus GS300. I had about 20 seconds to sort it out. That was plenty of time to put my foot on the brake. IIRC, I sorted the problen in less than 200 yards.
I'm guessing that the guy had a good life assurance policy.
Edited by don4l on Wednesday 14th December 21:10
Not sure if this has been posted already.
"In the summer and fall of 2009, hundreds of Toyota owners came forward with an alarming allegation: Their cars were suddenly and uncontrollably accelerating. Toyota was forced to recall 10 million vehicles, pay a fine of more than $1 billion, and settle countless lawsuits. The consensus was that there was something badly wrong with the world’s most popular cars. Except that there wasn’t. What happens when hysteria overtakes common sense?"
But this podcast covers most of this https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/revisionist-hi...
"In the summer and fall of 2009, hundreds of Toyota owners came forward with an alarming allegation: Their cars were suddenly and uncontrollably accelerating. Toyota was forced to recall 10 million vehicles, pay a fine of more than $1 billion, and settle countless lawsuits. The consensus was that there was something badly wrong with the world’s most popular cars. Except that there wasn’t. What happens when hysteria overtakes common sense?"
But this podcast covers most of this https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/revisionist-hi...
Edited by Northern Munkee on Wednesday 14th December 21:31
davepoth said:
I wonder whether the ABS failed? If there was some electrical screw-up that messed with everything else I guess it could conceivably have included the ECU thinking that all the wheels were locked and preventing the brakes from activating properly?
You do know what ABS does? It releases and reapplies the brakes at high frequency. It does not simply release the brakes.davepoth said:
I wonder whether the ABS failed? If there was some electrical screw-up that messed with everything else I guess it could conceivably have included the ECU thinking that all the wheels were locked and preventing the brakes from activating properly?
While fuelling as if at maximum, how many sytems do you think failed all at the same time, ABS and engine ECU's are completely separate, and for both to fail in such a way that they miraculously log no faults or that the brakes were applied but the throttle was set at max?Darwin or Suicide was the cause of death.
gruffalo said:
While fuelling as if at maximum, how many sytems do you think failed all at the same time, ABS and engine ECU's are completely separate, and for both to fail in such a way that they miraculously log no faults or that the brakes were applied but the throttle was set at max?
Darwin or Suicide was the cause of death.
Oh, I agree - I said as much about fifteen pages ago. I just wanted to stir the pot really. It would have to be a ridiculously odd set of circumstances for so many things to fail but to allow the engine to still run. Darwin or Suicide was the cause of death.
davepoth said:
I wonder whether the ABS failed? If there was some electrical screw-up that messed with everything else I guess it could conceivably have included the ECU thinking that all the wheels were locked and preventing the brakes from activating properly?
Also abs does not shorten braking distances, it allows the car to be steered whilst braking.TLandCruiser said:
Also abs does not shorten braking distances, it allows the car to be steered whilst braking.
True. In early systems I think it made braking distances a bit longer, but the ability to steer while braking hard was more useful - you can steer round the thing you're about to hit.My point was that if the ABS got confused it might stop the brakes from applying properly you could end up in the situation that was mentioned (brakes overheated by prolonged and gentle application).
TLandCruiser said:
Also abs does not shorten braking distances, it allows the car to be steered whilst braking.
That was definitely true of a skilled driver vs an early system under test conditions. With a modern system, average driver, patchy grip, panic braking - I wouldn't bet on it.otolith said:
That was definitely true of a skilled driver vs an early system under test conditions. With a modern system, average driver, patchy grip, panic braking - I wouldn't bet on it.
The addition of EBS to ABS helped - you want an emergency stop, EBS does it, people don't really push the pedal hard enough...Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff