Modern cars equipped with "start" buttons...

Do any of these have big red kill switches, like race cars or industrial machinery?

If not, why not?

Reply to
Tegger
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Ours doesnt... and I dont know why not. I have never had a problem.

Reply to
hls

"hls" wrote in news:OqudneIwqbRGb17XnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

I ask because of the recent report of the "runaway Lexus". It just occurred to me that if there had been a big red kill button on the dash, the driver may have thought to punch it before things got out of hand. But then the same thing could be said of traditionally-keyed cars, I guess.

Maybe that "runaway Lexus" thing speaks more to the brainlessness that's encouraged by automatic transmissions. If a problem like that were to occur with a manually-shifted car, what would be your first and instant response?

Reply to
Tegger

I've been told that you have to push it for several seconds to stop the engine, at least in the case of the runaway car.

Reply to
Kruse

Kruse wrote in news:6ba63784-6995-4718-be19-d23d318342d4 @j19g2000yqk.googlegroups.com:

So if you were an uneducated non-car person in this specific panic situation, which action do you think you'd be most likely to perform quickly?:

1) press and hold the small green "Start" button for several seconds, or 2) punch the big red "STOP" button?
Reply to
Tegger

My first and automatic response would be to mash the hell out of the brakes and hope to stall the engine vs. popping the clutch and letting the engine over-rev itself to death. Repairing a stuck accelerator cable or similar sure beats replacing a blown engine. Of course quire a few vehicles today have electronic throttle control, so the sticking part is that much less likely.

Reply to
Pete C.

I'd grab the mouse out of the glove box and click "Start, Shut Down". Remember, it's a Windows car... you tell the computer what you'd like it to do, and it decides whether you're worthy of its respect and compliance.

Reply to
MasterBlaster

I may be very wrong, but I dont think the Lexus issue was the same type of runaway that was blamed on the Audis of some years ago.

I dont see that you could get the carpets of the Lexus wadded up in the accelerator in such a way as to cause runaway acceleration, but you can certainly get it under the brake pedal which would hamper your ability to stop (especially if you are weak in the legs)

If this is the case, the carpet fix is simple.

Reply to
hls

I assumed I could just hit the power button a second time. That generally turns off my Prius. But today there was a message in a Prius discussion group that said he couldn't turn off the power on his Prius. Now, he didn't have a "stuck throttle", so it wasn't an emergency, but that made me think of the possibility.

I have had two cars that had problems with sticking accelerators. These were both stick shift cars, so instinctively I would depress the cluth, then reach for and turn off the ignition. And the brakes were not anti-skid so the brakes were always available.

But in the Prius the brakes are anti-skid. So a computer malfunction COULD affect both the throttle action AND the brakes. Now I find that even the power switch is not foolproof.

Reply to
Don Stauffer

He needs to read his manual. You press and hold the power button for three seconds or so and it will do the emergency shutdown.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

FYI: For *all* operating systems, to shutdown you start a shutdown process that performs the shutdown tasks such as flushing buffers, closing files, etc. This is true even on Macs where the cutsy GUI hides these gory details from the user.

Reply to
Pete C.

"Pete C." wrote in news:4ac40671$0$21058$ snipped-for-privacy@unlimited.usenetmonster.com:

Well, I think my first and instant response would be to step on the clutch or push the shift lever out of gear. I'd think that would come naturally to anyone used to a manual transmission. Of course, automatics have no clutch, and drivers of automatics aren't used to thinking about the shift lever at all while driving.

Reply to
Tegger

"hls" wrote in news:y_2dnZM-8- PnC1nXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

It's not. And there was nothing wrong with the Audi 5000 in the first place.

The '96-'98 Honda Civic had just that problem, and with OEM mats.

As it was in the Civic case (retrofit of grommet and hook).

Reply to
Tegger

Well, I've driven a manual most of my driving life, up until my new '09 F350, probably 500,000+ miles in previous manual vehicles and I'd mash the brake as the first try. I expect that since I work on my own vehicles I probably have a better idea of how things work and why I'd want to avoid pooping the clutch on a runaway engine. Certainly in the unlikely event that the brakes wouldn't stall the vehicle and I had to stop it fast, the engine blowing clutch pop would be second in line.

Reply to
Pete C.

If the ECU hangs up, would the stop button still work?

I wonder if the electronic throttle actuator is the reason. On Toyota's 2.4L engine these can fail as early as 30K miles and cause rough running and/or the steering wheel to lock up while driving. But I don't think any 2.4L has been reported running away with the same floor mat?

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Reply to
john

At 120 MPH, it would travel ~530 feet every 3 seconds. Add traffic, maybe highway curves and tires burning from stomping on the brakes. I wonder how much useful info can be retrieved from the Event Data Recorder.

"The recorder, a four-> I assumed I could just hit the power button a second time.  That

Reply to
john

Or you can downshift and apply emergency brake.

I think manufacturers need to start making cars that would allow you to set maximum speed. We don't usually need to drive above the speed limit anyway.

Reply to
Bob Jones

I'd push the clutch, or throw the transmission/transaxle into neutral. Screw the engine, just disconnect the engine from the transmission/ transaxle and I don't care what anyone says, the car WILL slow down.

The mindlessness of some people is just astounding. I mean I feel bad for the people who died in that lexus..but come on. Lets be realistic. The car is going without you telling it to, so the guy behind the wheel decides to just try to DRIVE it? Gimme a break....turn off the key, or in the absence of a key, take it out of gear....you do not just wait for the situation to get better because it most certainly won't unless you do something to address the problem.

Chris

Reply to
Hal

***** You notice I said "blamed on the Audis".
Reply to
hls

Nope, in order to downshift you'd have to pop the clutch which would cause the over-rev problem. Additionally, downshifting would be a negative since downshifting increases the amount of torque the brakes would have to work against. It is much easier to stall the engine of a moving vehicle with the engine at WOT in a higher gear than a lower gear.

Pretty much all vehicles have such limits currently. There are rev limiters intended to prevent over reving the engine as well as top speed limiters intended to prevent exceeding the speed rating of the tires. Depending on the nature of the failure however, these may not be effective.

Reply to
Pete C.

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