Man killed because his cruise control wouldn't switch off!

[AJL308]

MrNoisy said:

Very few cars move the pedal since the advent of decent electronic control. Older cars did it and some newer stuff - Landrover products with a V8 are one example that still had vacuum operated cruise into the 2000's. Still has many many overides should the mechanical link fail.

2 possibilities.....

1. The mat is stuck, easily done but unlikely over 8 minutes
2. A staged suicide for misguided insurance reasons - that's what my money is on.

The idea that the electronic gubbins has failed or taken the signal from the throttle etc is pure fantasy land stuff. Throttles don't get stuck open since we got rid of the stty cables ffs.

1 I think is unlikely as the report says that the accelerator was two thirds of the way down at one point and fully off 2 seconds before the collision. Unless the mat was very obstructive then it shouldn't have been stuck in that position.

[moanthebairns]

if this is keyless ignition, throwing his fob out the window would surely cause it to stop once out of distance.

[FredClogs]

The Volvo CC systems use to depress the accelerator pedal, the last one I had was a 2004 car.

I reckon he was messing about with the CC or committed suicide, he couldn't have been fallen asleep doing 100+ in that short space of time.

[zedx19]

moanthebairns said:

if this is keyless ignition, throwing his fob out the window would surely cause it to stop once out of distance.

That's not how keyless works, it would be extremely dangerous if it did work like this, just imagine if your fob battery dies while you're driving...

Current car just brings a warning on the dash saying, "Key Not Found", as did my old Mazda, car continues to work as normal.

[g3org3y]

TheJelley said:

This sounds very similar to the Toyota sudden acceleration problem.

That was found to be user error - and not a problem at all. Malcom Gladwell did a podcast on it in the summer.

This is the synopsis. Tragic but fascinating at the same time, a horrible thing for the family.

Thanks for the link. Very interesting.

[Markbarry1977]

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 Hyundai coupe s111 certainly did.

[FWIW]

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.

I had a 1993 Granada Scorpio which did this...

[rxe]

AJL308 said:

1 I think is unlikely as the report says that the accelerator was two thirds of the way down at one point and fully off 2 seconds before the collision. Unless the mat was very obstructive then it shouldn't have been stuck in that position.

Could well be the mat.

Bloke is driving along with cruise on. Foot is not on the accelerator, it is on the mat, maybe has has a itch and moves the mat by accident. Mat now blocks the accelerator, cruise is still engaged, the car is actually being propelled by the accelerator position.

Knocks off cruise.

Nothing happens

Cycles cruise again, probably resets it to higher speed by accident

PANIC. Rational thought goes out of the window at this point.

Tries to hit the brakes - brakes probably overwhelmed

MORE PANIC.

If it is a manual, I have no idea why he did not dip the clutch. If he had an auto, he might not have realised that you can stick it in neutral at speed.

Remember his now controlling a car at 100 mph, which takes a fair bit of attention, and convinced he is going to die. You're not going to get a rational response from him.

[AndStilliRise]

rxe said:

AJL308 said:

1 I think is unlikely as the report says that the accelerator was two thirds of the way down at one point and fully off 2 seconds before the collision. Unless the mat was very obstructive then it shouldn't have been stuck in that position.

Could well be the mat.

Bloke is driving along with cruise on. Foot is not on the accelerator, it is on the mat, maybe has has a itch and moves the mat by accident. Mat now blocks the accelerator, cruise is still engaged, the car is actually being propelled by the accelerator position.

Knocks off cruise.

Nothing happens

Cycles cruise again, probably resets it to higher speed by accident

PANIC. Rational thought goes out of the window at this point.

Tries to hit the brakes - brakes probably overwhelmed

MORE PANIC.

If it is a manual, I have no idea why he did not dip the clutch. If he had an auto, he might not have realised that you can stick it in neutral at speed.

Remember his now controlling a car at 100 mph, which takes a fair bit of attention, and convinced he is going to die. You're not going to get a rational response from him.

^
Sounds like a good explanation of a possible situation.

[Sheepshanks]

rxe said:

Tries to hit the brakes - brakes probably overwhelmed

I don't think they'd be overwhelmed, and in most (all? - certainly VAG group) cars hitting brake pedal cuts the gas anyway.

[PurpleTurtle]

Cotty said:

Suicide but trying to disguise it as a vehicle fault?

That's what I think too. Even if unable to get it into neutral or get it to stop via the stop/start button, a hefty stomp on the brakes would've caused it to either slow sufficiently and engine stall, or to a speed where a more survivable collision with central reservation/another moving vehicle/enforced ditching to the left, all of which would be infinitely preferable to a high speed rear-ending of an HGV.

[motco]

Certain model years of X-Type Jaguar had a cruise lock-on problem. Here's a recall adisory:

Jaguar Cars said:

IMPORTANT
2006 to 2010 Model Year X-TYPE Vehicles
SAFETY RELATED RECALL
Subject: Loss of Cruise Control
Dear Sir/Madam
Jaguar Cars Limited is undertaking a no-charge Safety Recall (Programme Number J024) to owners of 2006 to 2010 model year 2.2L diesel X-TYPE vehicles.
Reason for this programme
A concern has been identified with the cruise control fitted to the vehicles identified above. In some circumstance the cruise control may not respond to the normal inputs. If the driver is trying to engage the cruise control an amber warning and the message "Cruise Not Available" light will be displayed on the instrument cluster. If the cruise control is engaged it cannot be disengaged in the normal manner, i.e. brake pedal application, cruise cancel button, clutch pedal depression or when neutral gear is selected. The set speed cannot be adjusted when in cruise control with the error state present. Turning the ignition off will cancel the cruise control function.
What Jaguar Cars Limited and your dealer will do
Jaguar Cars Limited is carrying out a voluntary recall of the vehicles mentioned above. The Jaguar Approved Service Centre will configure the powertrain control module.
How long will it take?
The work will be carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to minimize inconvenience to customers and is expected to take approximately 1 hr although your service centre may need your vehicle for a longer time due to service scheduling requirements.
What we are asking you to do
Contact your preferred Jaguar approved service centre without delay. Provide the service centre with your vehicle registration number. Ask for a service date for Recall Programme J024,this will be carried out free of charge.

[TTwiggy]

I've read the story now and it does seem an odd one. Young(ish) chap who you assume has some sort of clue about how a car works, wherewithal to phone the police for advice, tried using the engine off button etc, etc and yet it happened. No suggestion he had any reason to take his life (and there are much easier ways), but no faults on the car.

Seems he may have experienced some sort of mental issue that had him pressing the throttle but unaware that he was doing so.

[Shaw Tarse]

Thoughts are with call handler

[rscott]

Shaw Tarse said:

Thoughts are with call handler

Agreed - must have been terrible for them.

[loose cannon]

TTwiggy said:

I must have owned at least 8 cars with CC (including my current one) and the throttle pedal has never moved on any of them. Why would it need to?

Older cars with cable operated throttle pedals will move the pedal when in cruise control mode as somebody has mentioned earlier

[Jimmyarm]

It is possible that the turbo seals blew and the engine ran on its own oil.

Wouldnt expect it to last 8 minutes though.

Operator error unless someone had fiddled with the brakes, even at full power the brakes on that car would be able to overcome the engine.

[davepoth]

thebraketester said:

thomasjonny69 said:

Unless it was a DSG, why not just dip the clutch. That's still a mechanical connection.

You can still knock an auto into neutral.

These stories never add up. Usually avoidable

DSG is a little bit trickier though since it's a robotised manual gearbox, and may be programmed to not allow neutral selection at speed - it won't let you shift into a gear low enough to pop the engine, for example.

[motco]

Jimmyarm said:

It is possible that the turbo seals blew and the engine ran on its own oil.

Wouldnt expect it to last 8 minutes though.

Operator error unless someone had fiddled with the brakes, even at full power the brakes on that car would be able to overcome the engine.

Good thought - if t'was a diesel obviously. He could still knock it into neutral though... Even an auto surely?

[Markbarry1977]

Don't vag cars actively cut the ignition if you try and press both peddles at the same time and give you a warning. I had a Skoda hire car and I am sure it happened to me. I was trying to give a dab of left foot brake and it happened to me.