When asked why he didn't simply put the car in neutral, (Driver James) Sikes responded: "You had to be there. I might go into reverse. I didn't know if the car would flip. I had no idea how it would react."In other words, he was ignorant of some very basic facts about the operation of his car. He should be embarrassed. There was no reason this little drama should have played out over 30 minutes... unless this guy has something else in mind. So far he claims he isn't going to sue, but...we'll see.
Sikes spoke in calm, measured tones on the emergency call, and later said he was "embarrassed" by the incident.
"I'm just embarrassed about that," he said. "You have to be there. That's all I can say."
I had a weird acceleration problem with my Ford Explorer one morning when my wife and I were in Santa Paula. We were pulling up to a parking lot exit and as I braked the engine suddenly revved up and I had to really stand on the brake to keep the truck from leaping out into the street. I immediately threw the transmission into neutral, pumped the gas pedal a couple of times, and the problem went away. To this day I don't know what happened and the problem has not recurred, but a little knowledge about the basics of the automatic transmission was all it took to avoid a big problem.
There may well be a problem with Toyotas, but if drivers don't demonstrate any more knowledge about their vehicles than this guy did any issue with the car has the potential to escalate into something pretty big.
UPDATE: This whole thing is starting to look like a scam. Read this Forbes piece for more info on the incident and the driver.
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My husband and I had a conversation about this yesterday, about whether simply turning off the engine would have solved the problem. I said I'd be reluctant to do that, fearing that the car would jolt to a stop and go end over end. My husband was of the opinion that the wheels would be unaffected and would just gradually slow.
Sounds like the husband is right. But I'm still skeptical. Both of us agreed that downshifting or shifting to neutral would be a logical solution, also deploying the emergency brake. I also think that on a highway a controlled crash might be a solution (for example, side-swiping a guard rail or jersey wall) -- though obviously it would be a dangerous last resort only applicable where conditions allow and risky to say the least.
The brakes will always emerge victorious from a contest with an accelerator! Shifting into neutral will have no adverse effect outside of damaging the engine. Once the vehicle is in neutral the engine no longer propels the moving vehicle. The notion that turning off the ignition may somehow cause a car to flip over is akin to believing you can get pregnant by exposing your twat to the inrushing salt water waves. It is just plain ludicrous! That the major networks would give credence to this story in the first place is an outrage. What have we become?
Just listening to the 911 call that is linked at the Forbes piece really makes this whole thing a near-obvious scam. He's pretending the entire call not to properly hear the operator, then, at times convenient to the man, randomly answers the operator's questions.
Yes, you can get the car stopped if you turn off the ignition (key), however, you had better be prepared for a real shock. You will lose the Power Steering and you will also lose the Power Braking system. If you are a frail person you most likely will end up stopping, but not as you had planned.
It's amazing that a trained Highway Patrol Officer who was driving a Lexus (manufactured by Toyota) had his loan car accelerate on him resulting in the death of both he and his family members. I would think that with all his training he would have been able to quickly respond to the situation at hand and get the vehicle stopped.
Looks like this is just another case of someone trying to cash in on Toyotas recent bad publicty.
Note to Anonymous, my comment about fearing that shuting off the ignition might lead to an end-over-end stop was not based upon anything I heard in the media. I was just wondering to myself what happens when you suddenly stop the engine while traveling 90 mph -- with the transmission in gear. I'd have no fear of shutting off the car if the car were in neutral.
Perhaps my reasoning was faulty, but it was my own error of thinking. My dad was an auto mechanic! -- so thinking about what cars do has been a natural reflex all my life (though not being a mechanic myself, I obviously have many fewer facts to bolster my speculation).
My husband's conclusion was cute: he saw this as a clear demonstration why everyone should drive a stick shift! Sometimes progress means going back to reliable technology.
Manual transmissions to make a comeback, anyone? Hey, let's bring back the three-on-the-tree.
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