Cars don’t accelerate unintentionally

- March 11th, 2010

Many people automatically assume that unintended acceleration is a result of a mechanical or electronic failure – a manufacturer has not properly tested its vehicles and the problem is allowing vehicles to run rampant, usually injuring or killing innocent drivers and/or passengers.

However, many of the cases of unintended acceleration are attributable to user error.

All-in-one column control stalk

In older models, cruise controls on the turn-signal stalk could sometimes be accidentally engaged.

Again, the thinking is that this can’t be so because drivers know the difference between the accelerator and the brakes but many times the users themselves aren’t even aware of what is happening and the first instinct is panic, resulting in the appropriate action’s not being taken before the catastrophic result. I don’t blame them, because when you’re faced with even 100 rampaging ponies suddenly bolting forward, the first reaction is usually never one of calm analysis.

Even professionals exhibit a flurry of activity akin to panic, when they are faced with unforeseeable problems with their vehicles’ behaviour.

I recently experienced unintended acceleration and it took a second before I caught on to what was happening and corrected the problem. I’ve also had it happen in the past with a different course of events.

Pedals

In some models, the brake and accelerator pedal position can make control challenging for the driver wearing wider footwear.

In the earlier case, it involved one of those all-in-one left hand column stalks that in this case also included a cruise control “off/on/resume” switch. I had been cruising along the highway at 100 km/h or so and had come upon a back-up so I had braked and, consequently, disengaged the cruise. I crawled along for several 100 metres until I realized I could detour off the highway at the coming exit. I accelerated a bit to match a gap in traffic and as I engaged my signal to merge right, I pushed the little switch toward “resume” and the car’s V8 went into full acceleration mode to try and match the previously set 100 km/h setting.

The recent case involved my coming down a slight hill in winter to a stop sign. I braked and the car seemed to go into a cruising mode as if the brakes weren’t holding. It seems my boots were a bit wider than the gap between brake and throttle, and I was depressing them both at the same time to the point that braking was still taking place but I was also unintentionally accelerating the truck at the same time.

I’ve also had problems in the past with shifting floor mats, usually the kind from department stores that “fit all” or can be cut to fit. I’ve never had one cause my car to bolt or not stop, but I’ve had a car not start because the clutch couldn’t be pushed past the knock-off point.

These are just a few examples, but enough to illustrate that as companies sometimes state, the cause of unintended acceleration is driver-error.

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7 comments

  1. John McKee says:

    I have just read the above article and would like to say that your observations about unintended acceleration are spot on.

    I have experienced the same problem when braking in the winter on a slight hill when leaving my neighborhood, and like yourself I noted that it was that my winter boot overlapped both the brake and Gas peddle at the same time.

    It would be interesting to know the shoe size of that guy in California who was photographed careening down the turnpike and have a look at the brake and gas peddle configuration of the car he was driving.

    The reason I have taken such an interest is that I myself have just purchased a new Toyota Corolla CE and I have the utmost confidence in the Toyota brand and have no fears about it’s reliability.

    I guess that it is more news effective to have people think that it is the cars fault rather than their own and its pile on (kick them when they are down) when it comes to The TOYOYA BRAND.

    It is not to be said that perhaps if the design of brake peddle and accelerator where Such that they where further apart, all this bull about the car being possessed by an electronic boogeyman could be put to rest.

    Cheers

    John D. McKee

  2. yes this is not the problem of technology , we should always have the care of our cars to protect ourself from any incidents.
    ‘very interesting post & informative post’

  3. yes this is totally the problem of technology ,we here to focus on this problem to remove it out.
    ‘very informative post’

  4. Katherine Handcock says:

    I’m so glad to hear someone point this out! I keep getting so frustrated when I hear people pull out the Audi “sudden acceleration” in the 1980s. Funny enough, many of the documented Audi sudden acceleration incidents showed a gas pedal that was actually bent towards the floor from the pressure of the driver’s foot! I suspect that many of the Toyota cases will be found to be the same. Unfortunately, that won’t prevent the damage to Toyota’s name and bank accounts as jurors with no engineering understanding decide to award damages based on what might have been the problem–just as happened to Audi.

  5. Andrew Taylor says:

    My thoughts exactly.. Everyone should learn what to do in an emergency situation when at the wheel. It takes much more time to make a cell phone call than putting the shifter in neutral or shuting down the engine. One of these people that was killed at the wheel was an off duty police officer.
    i thought that police officer,s were trained to react accordingly in an emergency. This one was not . Everyone is looking for someone to blame for their own lack of skill at the wheel. Gas pedal,s can and have been sticking on all brands of cars from time to time since the car was invented or any other motorized vehicle for that matter.But now everyone is looking for a bloodthirsty lawyer to save them from their own stupidity.

  6. I have no status with some of the companies commerce these fuel “saving” devices, nor do I get some benefit if people don’t acquire them. But I’m an honest sort of guy who doesn’t same to see people get ripped off, and change it was time to explain the engineering actuality behind the claims. I also object to the fact that some of these devices make emissions worse, which obviously is intense for people’s health. Finally, as a car business engineer, I resent the implication that my colleagues and I are “too stupid” to see the benefits of these fantastic planet-saving gizmos!

    Ronnie Gibbs

  7. It all depends on the experience of the driver. If the driver is new to any car it might be possible that he can face such issues and can get lead to accidents. Good information provided about the incident which can be caused by driver negligence.

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