Re: Sudden acceleration with SEFI

Probably simultaneous application of the brake pedal and throttle pedal.

While the brakes can hold back a full-throttled engine when the two pedals are independently depressed, with sufficient force to the brake, this does not necessarily happen when the single braking foot contacts both pedal accidentally.

You can experiment with this phenomena on a deserted road or large, empty parking lot. If your braking foot is placed off-center to the right, overhanging on the brake pedal pad, and depressed, it will contact the left edge of the gas pedal and the truck will lurch forward. The natural reaction is to press harder on the "brake" but the throttle will overpower the brake because maximum engine torque will be reached before maxium brake action is achieved.

The geometry of the brake and gas pedals in the Ford F150 series is completely wrong. Just look at some 50's cars. Their brake pedals had a long travel to work non-boosted master cylinders. So the pedal was about a foot off the floorboard. The gas pedal was way down low. There is no physical way for both pedals to be contacted simultaneously. As car seats were lowered and boosters became common, the brake pedal travel was reduced and lowered, creating the hazard of sudden acceleration. One final note is gas pedals are ratioed to work with little physical movement to get the throttle to go wide. Check this out yourself. Depress the gas pedal about

1/4 inch and your truck will get up to about 60 or 70 mph. With this much power on hand for so little gas pedal depression, it is no wonder that accidental simultaneous pedal application causes accidents, not limited to old ladies. It could happen to any driver, no matter how experienced. Just a new pair of shoes is all it might take to confuse intended pedal operation.

Definitely a cause for legal action.

Reply to
George Orwell
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Against who, the shoe manufacturer?

Reply to
SC Tom

You are correct, unexpected acceleration has one cause and one cause only driver error.

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

You are correct, unexpected acceleration has one cause and one cause only driver error.

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

They're probably the same people whose vehicles flip or swerve out of control when a tire blows out. I've had maybe a half dozen tires fail on me at 60 MPH or faster, on straight roads and turns, in trucks and cars, one in the rain, but I never came even close to losing control.

I've heard of only one legitimate case of unexpected acceleration, with a certain 1970s or 1980s Ford automatic. People would leave them in park or neutral and get out of the car, and vibration would cause the transmission to shift into drive or reverse. Of course the accidents would have been prevented if the drivers had used the parking brake.

Reply to
do_not_spam_me

heh, had this happen to me while checking tranny fluid in a 84 mustang with a very high idle.. really had to chase that one down! don't believe the parking brake even worked in that, if I could have afforded to fix such things the high idle would have come first anyway..

Reply to
Dark1

What you describe is know as driver error, the cause of most accidents. ;)

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

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