3 ms·
I'm sympathetic to car manufacturers in situations of very brief unintended acceleration, where the driver could plausibly have hit the accelerator instead of t
by michaelt 3y ago
I'm sympathetic to car manufacturers in situations of very brief unintended acceleration, where the driver could plausibly have hit the accelerator instead of the brake, or something loose in the car could have got stuck under one of the pedals.
But in this case, the problem lasted long enough for the driver to call the police, and a convoy of police vehicles to escort him for some 15 minutes.
To me it sounds like the driver's reaction was calm and controlled, with plenty of time to assess the situation. Another report on the same incident [1] says the driver tried the park button, the engine off button, police got advice from engineers, they even tried passing the car key to another car. And that the dash showed "nine warning lights."
Given these facts, it seems very unlikely the driver was, for example, confusing the accelerator and the brake, or failing to press the brake sufficiently hard.
[1] https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/motors/11320530/electric-vehicle-car-brakes-malfunction-glasgow-police/ https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/motors/11320530/electric-ve...
- Pulcinella 3y agoTime to make a phone call doesn't necessarily mean anything. This poor family[0] had time to call 911 and still crashed. https://www.twincities.com/2010/02/23/a-lexus-barreling-out-of-control-a-frantic-911-call-a-family-dead/amp/ https://www.twincities.com/2010/02/23/a-lexus-barreling-out-...
- EricE 3y agoIt wasn't just time to make the phone call - it was time to make the call, police respond, get the manufacturer on the phone too, and then 15 minutes in to the response taking the final action.