How do you stop a car with a jammed accelerator?

Well this happened more than a couple of times to me in my mini (a real mini) due to issues with the throttle cable sticking and then a couple more times because the butterfly in my weber carburettor got stuck open. And I don't agree with that BBC article where it sais

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"In the case of the accelerator sticking, the immediate response for a lot of people would be to unjam the accelerator when the proper reaction is in fact to try to stop the car," says Mr Howard.

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That is the very first thing you SHOULD do. Providing there is time and it is safe to do so, try hooking the pedal back up with your feet or give the pedal a quick jab or "blip" to help free it. Obviously if you are 10m away from a T Junction then just press the clutch and jump on the brakes.

As for turning the engine off, it is perfectly safe aslong as you know what you are doing, most cars have more than one key position. If you turn the key all the way off then yes you will apply the steering lock, but normally one turn back is the "accessory position" and this will not enable the steering lock but turn off the ignition.

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Originally Posted by 3s-gtech

Switching off the ignition is a good way of engaging the steering lock and dying rapidly. As you say, some very daft comments on there, but it is HYS.

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The steering lock should not engage until the key is removed from the ignition lock, just turning it off should not engage the steering lock.

Still probably not the best thing to do, but if you were absolutely desperate you should be able to get away with it.

I think its also important to remember that depending on where you turn the ignition to it could also turn off the power steering, abs, servo amongst other things making your attempt to stop a little harder :D

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Originally Posted by capncrunch

As for turning the engine off, it is perfectly safe aslong as you know what you are doing, most cars have more than one key position. If you turn the key all the way off then yes you will apply the steering lock, but normally one turn back is the "accessory position" and this will not enable the steering lock but turn off the ignition.

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Just bare in mind if you have power steering and servo asisted brakes these will also cut out. Not a big issue in a small car but something big it can be. You're not going to pull up a SIlver Shadow without brake servos.

It all depends on the car, I had a Polo that would often stall when cold between durring gear changes, I would often just coast, drop a gear bring the clutch back up and it would bump start the engine. Oddly we'd had this car for years, the garage never managed to sort it, three months after inheriting the blasted thing from my mum I tried super unleaded which solved the issue and improved economy enough to recoup the cost.

OK; the solution is obvious and I'm amazed that the Daily Express hasn't published this yet.

It's all the government's fault (obviously; everything is the fault of this incompetent, corrupt, insert adjective of choice, government) so they should fix it. Instead of wasting money on parliamentary expenses we should get escape lanes built on every road.

This serves multiple purposes; it makes our roads safer (particularly from paedophiles - they're bound to be there somewhere) and it gives jobs to all the unemployed.

There's quite a nice escape lane here Rural Roads - Exmoor Coast - Lynton and Lynmouth but that might be bigger than we need everywhere. I'm sure we could find British engineers to do a better job!

Surely the correct answer is to jump out of the moving car like an action film and let the car explode into a fireball going over a cliff/hitting a mountain?

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Originally Posted by 3s-gtech

Switching off the ignition is a good way of engaging the steering lock and dying rapidly. As you say, some very daft comments on there, but it is HYS.

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Only if you remove the key from the ingition should it engage the steering lock, if you leave the key in you should be free to steer as normal. Although switching the ignition off while in gear will put considerable strain on the drive-train and probably damage the drive-shaft.

Thinking back, I once had the opposite problem in my old Clio.

Was driving home after going to the cinema, and my accelerator cable snapped. I was going up an incline at the time, so my foot went flat to the floor and I lost power. Luckily I had sense to pull to the curb and put my hazards on.

Bloody French rubbish.

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Originally Posted by K.C.Leblanc

Just bare in mind if you have power steering and servo asisted brakes these will also cut out. Not a big issue in a small car but something big it can be. You're not going to pull up a SIlver Shadow without brake servos.

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power steering? servo assited brakes? what are these things that you speak of? ;)

I never understood why cars don't have an ignition kill switch like motorbikes? :confused:

I remember when i was on my way to last years EduGeek conf - my car died just as i got off the roundabout just off the m-way - mid turn!! i had a hell of a job turning the wheel - not only cos of loss of Power Steering - but the bloody steering lock came on too!! :eek:

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Originally Posted by K.C.Leblanc

EDIT: But then I'm quite oppinionated, I for instance think the automatic test should only be offered to people who can't drive a manual car for medical reason. Learning to drive a manual gives you a much better unstanding of power and how cars actualy work.

Most people if not offered the choice of the auto test would go on to learn to drive a manual. The few who can't manage it should probably not be driving anyway.

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Well you're entitled to your opinion, but I think it's a load of rubbish :)

Most people who take the test in an automatic (such as myself) having struggled to get to grips with manual transmission will have been taught in an automatic and will have been taught how and when to use the car's gears and other factors which are unique to driving an automatic such as controlling creep etc. People who passed in an automatic are probably much safer driving one than somebody who passed in a manual and decided they wanted to get an automatic car.

Personally I changed from learning in a manual because I was having difficulty at junctions and getting in a flap with changing gear, holding the car at bite, observing traffic waiting for a gap, stalling, starting again etc. Taking most of that out of the mix means that I can concentrate more fully on observing traffic and making safe decisions (yes I know that these things become second nature for many drivers, but it wasn't clicking for me). It could be that a change to a different instructor in a manual and I would have picked it up, but I was getting so frustrated I changed to an automatic.

I have no regrets about only being able to drive an automatic, and the state of the snarled up, stop-start roads we drive in these days, I find it difficult to understand why people would actively want a manual for day to day use, other than familiarity.

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Originally Posted by SteveBentley

People who passed in an automatic are probably much safer driving one than somebody who passed in a manual and decided they wanted to get an automatic car.

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I passed in a manual and now drive my auto fine. Exception to the rule? or was that just your opinion too? hehe ;) ;)

I have a friend with an old Citroen AX where the engine block is held in place with duct tape. This causes the engine to move a bit and trap the accelerator cable until he brakes (sending it forwards and releasing the cable). His description of the "fault" if he was careful with how much the pedal is pressed was free cruise control. :D

(I don't recommend trying this though!)

I just dig my heels into the ground. But then again, I am Fred Flinstone.