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turn off the ignition Careful - a kid recently crashed into oncoming traffic here in Sydney because his car locked the steering wheel when he turned the key. (

turn off the ignition Careful - a kid recently crashed into oncoming traffic here in Sydney because his car locked the steering wheel when he turned the key. (He was trying to save fuel by coasting.) I know my car does the same thing.

iigs 17y ago
Agh. On all key type ignition switches there is a position between run and lock. On most non-US products that's where the "accessory" position is. (US brands tend to put accessory past lock the other direction). On automatic transmission automobiles the ignition switch is also required (US federal law, I believe) to not lock if the transmission is in a gear other than park.
- Devilboy 17y ago
  Yea I think this kid was driving a cheap 90s manual car.
radu_floricica 17y ago
Yup, tried it once at low speed, same effect. Technically if you only cut the power but don't turn the key all the way down, it won't lock. But the chances of being that careful in this situation are null. I'm surprised simply braking doesn't work. AFAIK, break power should be (much?) greater then engine power.
- electromagnetic 17y ago
  It'll definitely slow you down, but it might not last long. If I was in that situation I'd definitely try unsticking the gas pedal first. I'd also say be prepared to cut your ignition, because if your brake pads fail (brake pads are designed to cool down between use and I'm not sure what prolonged heating would do to them, I know when your callipers get stuck you can wear out the pad and the router pretty quickly) you're going to be up shit creek without an anchor. I'd always suggest trying to slow (by whatever means necessary) before turning your ignition off. Probably #1 would be to unstick the gas pedal, #2 would be to put it into neutral, #3 would be brake like a nut and #4 would be turn off the ignition (if you can't get it into neutral for some mysterious reason, or if you stopped safely of course). In reality your ignition really shouldn't be turned off until you've got your parking/hand brake on, turning it off while driving is dangerous, especially if you're on a highway.
  - laut 17y ago
    Very complicated in an automatic transmission car it seems. Very simple in a manual transmission car. You just press the clutch. You could even stop and start again and drive around with a little abuse of the clutch pedal.

iigs 17y ago

Agh. On all key type ignition switches there is a position between run and lock. On most non-US products that's where the "accessory" position is. (US brands tend to put accessory past lock the other direction). On automatic transmission automobiles the ignition switch is also required (US federal law, I believe) to not lock if the transmission is in a gear other than park.

Devilboy 17y ago
Yea I think this kid was driving a cheap 90s manual car.

radu_floricica 17y ago

Yup, tried it once at low speed, same effect. Technically if you only cut the power but don't turn the key all the way down, it won't lock. But the chances of being that careful in this situation are null. I'm surprised simply braking doesn't work. AFAIK, break power should be (much?) greater then engine power.

electromagnetic 17y ago
It'll definitely slow you down, but it might not last long. If I was in that situation I'd definitely try unsticking the gas pedal first. I'd also say be prepared to cut your ignition, because if your brake pads fail (brake pads are designed to cool down between use and I'm not sure what prolonged heating would do to them, I know when your callipers get stuck you can wear out the pad and the router pretty quickly) you're going to be up shit creek without an anchor. I'd always suggest trying to slow (by whatever means necessary) before turning your ignition off. Probably #1 would be to unstick the gas pedal, #2 would be to put it into neutral, #3 would be brake like a nut and #4 would be turn off the ignition (if you can't get it into neutral for some mysterious reason, or if you stopped safely of course). In reality your ignition really shouldn't be turned off until you've got your parking/hand brake on, turning it off while driving is dangerous, especially if you're on a highway.
- laut 17y ago
  Very complicated in an automatic transmission car it seems. Very simple in a manual transmission car. You just press the clutch. You could even stop and start again and drive around with a little abuse of the clutch pedal.