Witnessed possible WOT accident this morning

There was a bad accident on I-90 westbound just before the Sunset Way offramp this morning.

It looked to me like the car had a stuck wide open throttle (WOT).

I saw brake lights ahead in all lanes, then I saw the car everyone was slowing down for was going real fast across all lanes bouncing off the side embankments until it went off the road on the north side. It ended a couple hundred feet into the woods and it was on it's side and facing the wrong way so it flipped at least once.

A lot of cars stopped, I did too. We made our way through the blackberry bushes to the car.

There was one person in the car, the driver, and he was semi-conscious.
One of the responders sounded like he had EMT training so everyone let him talk to the driver.
I looked around the area for anyone who might have been thrown out of the car and asked the guy to see if the driver had been alone.
Troopers and a fire truck showed up, there wasn't anything more I could do so after checking with a Trooper I made my way back to my Midget and went on my way.

People have to think about what to do when in that situation.
You can put the transmission in neutral. Just let the engine race, better to blow up an engine than to die in a crash and possibly kill others.

If you put the transmission into neutral and pull off the road then you can turn the key off.
Turning the key off in most newer cars locks the steering wheel so you don't want to do that until you are parked.
Everyone should practice this.

The car that I saw this morning was a new looking Kia sedan.

It doesn't only happen to Toyotas.

Also be aware of what to do if the brakes or steering fail.
People take newer cars for granted, anything made in the past ten years just seems so dependable, so when something like this happens it's a big surprise.

We who drive these LBC's probably have our wits about us more than most - anyone here have brakes fail or have a WOT incident in a British car? I know I have had both within the past year. These things are survivable but like any emergency you will do what you have been trained to do - if you haven't at least thought about what to do then you won't have any idea when it happens.

I will be training my wife and kids on what to do if the car fails in these ways - starting today after work. I actually already started by sending them this information in an email so they can be thinking about it.

scary reminder - thanks

I saw my first one in 1976.

Big MK4 Lincoln.

60MPH in I-405, cruise control set......and the blonde had smoke coming out of all 4 sets of brakes by the time she got it below 25MPH and the CRUISE CONTROL dropped out.

Seems the brake light switch was bad, which also cancelled cruise......
And she didn't seem to think to hit the "off" button on the wheel spoke.


I was working at Evered Lincoln/Mercury when it came in........you could smell the brakes before it got in the door.

turning the car off entirely locks the steering wheel.... If you leave the key in "acc" the wheel should be unlocked.

How does the ignition lock work in a car with a "start button?"

The very first thing the FEDS need to do is regulate how the start button works on new cars sold in the US. There must be a standard procedure that allows the driver to turn the car off. My understanding is that it's different from Mfr to MFR now. Some require "push and hold" of the start button. Others require you to push the button repeatedly.

Standardize it so everyone knows what to do.

Sad. It seems like the more advanced cars get, the less people know about how to operate them. I've actually talked to people--otherwise intelligent, literate people, who have licences--who know literally nothing more than "turn the key, step on the go button, and steer between the lines."

bthompson said:

Sad. It seems like the more advanced cars get, the less people know about how to operate them. I've actually talked to people--otherwise intelligent, literate people, who have licences--who know literally nothing more than "turn the key, step on the go button, and steer between the lines."

Click to expand...

This has been a thorn in my side for decades. A license to drive a car is regarded as a right of passage in the US. At a minimum every applicant should be able to check (or point to the proper device to do so) oil level, coolant, brake fluid, demonstrate they can change a tire. Skid pad training/experience would be a good thing, too. A history teacher in a high school (or the football coach) aren't professional driving trainers. One model to build on would be Germany.

When I was 16 and a little bit, I got my first car.
My Great-Grandmother's 1950 Ford Tudor, which they purchased new.

So, we drove to Inglewood to pick it up, I drove it home to Anahein.

Halfway home on Artesia, I got stopped at a red light.
Light turned green, I took off, nailed it, went to shift, found the throttle was Wide Open, foot-feed on the floorboards.

At 16, I knew to A) hit the brakes HARD, and B) reach for the ignition.

The jerk of hitting the brakes popped it out of WOT, and I was fine, but I knew where to go.
(Ended up the cast-iron stop on the throttle plate was gone, and it over-centered).

In either 1975 or 1976, going home with the family in a 1968 T-Bird with a 429 4bbl, up the hill (long, steep and winding), throttle stuck (ended up being a frayed cable), WOT, secondaries open, and I drove it home on the ignition.

That was fun.

I used to teach courses on basic auto maintenance.
At the end, they got a tyre iron cross bar (with the appropriate end painted white for their size lug nuts) and a tyre pressure gauge.

Made them change a tyre to "pass" on their car.
THey had to get the spare out, jack, iron, break the lug nuts, jack it, pull the tyre and put the spare on, then reverse.

They KNEW where all the stuff was for when they really needed it.
Dave

bthompson said:

Sad. It seems like the more advanced cars get, the less people know about how to operate them. I've actually talked to people--otherwise intelligent, literate people, who have licences--who know literally nothing more than "turn the key, step on the go button, and steer between the lines."

Click to expand...

How true. I knew a lady who had no idea whether her car had antilock brakes or not. Be afraid.

That's nothing: I once met a guy who had no idea that his car had shim under bucket valve adjustments, the idiot thought they were shim over buckets!!! What a bozo!! It's a wonder he could make it to the end of his driveway without killing himself!!

To make matters worse, he didn't even know that his alternator was a clockwise rotation and not counterclockwise. How do these people even get drivers permits?

Be terrified!!!!!!

Yeah, a cell phone and a AAA card are a pass on any responsibility for silly stuff like low tire pressure, lack of oil, brake fluid goin' away somehow...

My mother-in-law has an '07 Camry that has been recalled. She has not received her appointment yet and she drives our kids around. I sent her the below URL and told her to stop driving the Camry and use the Honda if she is going to be driving our kids around. A good friend had her's stick 3 times. Once for the mechanic on a test drive. Scared the life outta him. This was before the recall. They never fixed any throttle linkage or pedal, they reset the on-board computer. Hasn't happened since. Toyota is blaming carpet mats and throttle pedals, but probably secretly resetting the computer with something else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFm047FUifQ&feature=related

DrEntropy said:

bthompson said:

Sad. It seems like the more advanced cars get, the less people know about how to operate them. I've actually talked to people--otherwise intelligent, literate people, who have licences--who know literally nothing more than "turn the key, step on the go button, and steer between the lines."

Click to expand...

This has been a thorn in my side for decades. A license to drive a car is regarded as a right of passage in the US. At a minimum every applicant should be able to check (or point to the proper device to do so) oil level, coolant, brake fluid, demonstrate they can change a tire. Skid pad training/experience would be a good thing, too. A history teacher in a high school (or the football coach) aren't professional driving trainers. One model to build on would be Germany.

Click to expand...

Off topic: I let a friend drive my 250C for his driver's test.
He drove a big old commercial van and knew he'd never get THAT
sucker parallel parked. He'd let his license expired and had to re-take the driving part even though he'd been driving
for several decades.
I stood by as he prepared for his test with the lady instructor seated beside him.
Suddenly the car's rear rose and the motor speed increased.
Gasp! He could not find the dash knob for the parking brake release.
Before I ran over to the coupe he found the dash knob and released the brake. The rear tire started smoking as the Benz flew out of the parking spot. He stopped the car. Tire smoke was floating in the air.
As he pulled the 250C back into it's parking place I assumed the test was over. It was.
Shortest driving test in history. Went all of 10 feet in
reverse out of the parking space with squealing tires.
I laughed so hard my ribs hurt.
We went back ....when allowed....and he passed on his second attempt.

Gundy said:

I laughed so hard my ribs hurt.

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I'm kinda gigglin' over it <span style="font-style: italic">now,</span> Dave! :laugh:

Westfield_XI said:

That's nothing: I once met a guy who had no idea that his car had shim under bucket valve adjustments, the idiot thought they were shim over buckets!!! What a bozo!! It's a wonder he could make it to the end of his driveway without killing himself!! Be terrified!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Allot of motorcycles are shim over bucket. Really easy to adjust. I don't like either ones.

I wouldn't expect most drivers to know they have valves, much less if they need adjusting and how. Then again, I don't think that's a good measure of capabilties.....only valve lash.

kellysguy said:

Westfield_XI said:

That's nothing: I once met a guy who had no idea that his car had shim under bucket valve adjustments, the idiot thought they were shim over buckets!!! What a bozo!! It's a wonder he could make it to the end of his driveway without killing himself!! Be terrified!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Allot of motorcycles are shim over bucket. Really easy to adjust. I don't like either ones.

I wouldn't expect most drivers to know they have valves, much less if they need adjusting and how. Then again, I don't think that's a good measure of capabilties.....only valve lash.

Click to expand...

That's my point: you don't need to know much of anything about HOW your car operates to be a good driver. You just have to know how to be a good driver and it does not matter what sort of technology your car uses to assist you.

Westfield_XI said:

That's my point: you don't need to know much of anything about HOW your car operates to be a good driver. <span style="font-weight: bold">You just have to know how to be a good driver and it does not matter what sort of technology your car uses to assist you.</span>

Click to expand...

Responsibility of ownership and more than just knowing how to turn a key would be nice. The technology <span style="font-style: italic">doesn't</span> matter. Knowing it needs to have fluid in the brake reservoir <span style="font-style: italic">may</span>. I'm not saying all drivers need to have the knowledge to rebuild the engine, rather that testing to qualify to drive a vehicle with an average mass in the area of 2.0~2.5 TONS at highway speeds is currently inadequate.

Westfield_XI said:

kellysguy said:

Westfield_XI said:

That's nothing: I once met a guy who had no idea that his car had shim under bucket valve adjustments, the idiot thought they were shim over buckets!!! What a bozo!! It's a wonder he could make it to the end of his driveway without killing himself!! Be terrified!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Allot of motorcycles are shim over bucket. Really easy to adjust. I don't like either ones.

I wouldn't expect most drivers to know they have valves, much less if they need adjusting and how. Then again, I don't think that's a good measure of capabilties.....only valve lash.

Click to expand...

That's my point: you don't need to know much of anything about HOW your car operates to be a good driver. You just have to know how to be a good driver and it does not matter what sort of technology your car uses to assist you.

Click to expand...

And my point is that if someone spends $30k on a car, gets an expensive option that might affect what happens in an emergency stop, and has NO IDEA that they even have that option they paid for, that does not speak well for what will happen when she stomps on the brake and wonders what all that chattering, grinding and pulsing is, then freak out thinking her brakes are broken, when in fact, they are operating normally. That was my point. Comparing safety features that require some knowledge of how to use them correctly to some part that has zero relevance to the driver is a poor analogy.

Precisely why when we could afford our first car with ABS I took my wife out on the ice and showed her what the brakes were supposed to feel like.
She thought (as would many) that all that noise and vibration ought to be bad - until I explained what it was doing and why it was doing it.
Or... "That's how you know it's working"...

My wife and I had a talk about what to do. She pretty bright to begin with. Talked to yonder church widdow who owns a Avalon on what to do in case. She's a smart cookie too.

Don't ya just love "drive by wire"! A friends Cadillac went WOT as well. As has been pointed out, cars went WOT before "drive by wire" but this system makes me a little queasy. I want my foot connected to the throttle.
KA.