What to do if your Toyota vehicle accelerates uncontrollably:

[smoogatz]

Do:

1.Put it in neutral.
2.Steer to a safe place.
3.Turn off the engine and call for assistance.

Do not:

1.Freak the fuck out.
2.Shit yourself.
3.Die.

I hope this helps.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I was told to go directly to step 2 and 3.

You do not have to be in neutral to turn the car off.

Make sure to keep key in ignition so steering wheel lock does not engage.

[Merchant Marine]

2. Coasting in neutral

Lets you get off of the road.

[Schema Thing]

4. eh?

you need to be in neutral to stop the car from accelerating.

Being in gear is what is killing people.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. Putting car in neutral will not necessarily engage the brakes...

There are conflicting reports...and I guess one cannot know for sure unless one has been there and done that.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8498257.stm
For many years I worked for a leading motoring organisation on car recovery, and I can remember once where I had to recover a vehicle from the M4 with a completely wrecked engine. His car to failed to slow-down when the accelerator pedal was released but instead continued to increase speed. But the driver returned the gear lever into neutral which naturally over-revved the engine, which resulted in a catastrophic engine failure. If he'd just turned the ignition key back one click (i.e. onto the "accessory" position the engine electrics would have been isolated and he could have pulled over onto the hard shoulder in safety.


http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/01/how-to-stop-a-runaway-car-five-steps-that-can-save-your-life-toyota-sua.html
January 27, 2010
How to stop a runaway car: Five steps that can save your life
How to cope with sudden unintended acceleration What should you do if your car suffers a sudden and unintended acceleration such as the problem that has triggered Toyota's massive auto recall? Here's our advice from the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center.

1. Brake firmly. Do not pump the brakes. Do not turn off the engine yet, because doing so would disable the power assist for your steering and brakes.

2. Shift the transmission into Neutral. Don't worry if the engine revs up alarmingly - most modern cars have rev-limiters to protect it, and this move will put you in back in control of your vehicle.

3. Steer to a safe location and come to a full stop.

4. Shut off the engine with the transmission still in Neutral.

5. Finally, shift the transmission into Park or, with a manual transmission, set the emergency brake. Then breathe deep and call for help. Do not attempt to drive the car.

Memorize the above steps to prepare for the rare chance that you might experience unintended acceleration. Better yet, practice them in a safe location at low speeds until you feel comfortable with them. They could save your life

http://www.allcaradvice.com/blog/1042057_how-to-stop-a-runaway-car
How to stop a runaway car

Until all cars have them, you should know how to stop a "runaway" car. One of my first driving experiences involved a gas pedal that didn't release. The "floating" gas pedal stuck under a misplaced floor mat. Since this was a stick-shift car with manual steering and no steering wheel interlock, my father quickly grabbed the keys and shut the engine off. He prevented push rods flying through our Ford Country Sedan's hood and taught a valuable lesson.

Automotive engineers say follow these steps if you're involved in a case of unexpected acceleration:

1. Press the brake pedal down. Do not pump; you'll lose power assist.

2. Shift into neutral. Practice this in a safe location; finding neutral might be difficult.

3. Use the brakes to bring the vehicle to a stop on the roadside.

4. Shut off the engine.

5. Shift into park.

[Schema Thing]

26. lol, true, you do have to do that too.

but if your car is being given gas for some unknown reason, you need to stop the horsepower from reaching the wheels.

putting the car in neutral breaks the link between the engine and the wheels. Your engine can then go ahead and spin at 7k rpm if it wants to; the wheels will no longer be powered.

If a person has a only limited amount of wherewithal, as it is sounding more and more like most drivers do, then I'd much rather you get the car out of gear than turn the engine off, as, if your wherewithal to drive under pressure is limited, you probably *are* going to fuck up when you try to drive panicked with no power steering or power brakes.

[Xipe Totec]

3. I just saw a demonstration on CBS news

Where they deliberately introduced a short circuit on a Toyota. The car began accelerating uncontrolably, the brakes would not work, and the engine could not be turned off. After the short was removed, every test on the car passed; no problems recorded.

It's easy to armchair quarterback a situation, quite another to live through it.

(or die in the process)

[951-Riverside]

5. Are you sure these are widely accepted suggestions? Remember peoples lives are at stake.

Someone here could face that same situation and follow your suggestions.

[SmileyRose]

6. There are reports putting it in neutral does not always help

I've seen several different articles over the last few weeks about people who did put the car in neutral but it continued to accelerate. A head scratcher.

[smoogatz]

16. That's impossible.

If you disengage the transmission by putting it in neutral, the car cannot continue to accelerate--it has to be in gear to do that.

[MineralMan]

22. It's entirely possible that some cars have an interlock that prevents

the transmission from being shifted into neutral with the engine operating at high RPMs. Many cars today shift entirely electrically and the shifting is controlled by the car's computer. So...

The only sure thing is to shut the engine off, whatever that involves. On keyless pushbutton cars like the Toyotas, it means holding the button down for three seconds, I I understand correctly. Even if the car is accelerating, that shouldn't be much of a problem. You can steer easily with one hand while pressing the conveniently-located start button.

All of the information is in that little book you never read in the glove compartment. Read it and learn how your automobile functions. Anticipate problems long before they occur. Rehearse emergency procedures in your head a few times.

That's how my father taught me to deal with emergencies. He said, "You never know when something might happen. If you've thought about it in advance, you'll be able to act more or less automatically." Like most things my father told me, I took them to heart. They have saved my life more than once.

[pokerfan]

30. First thing I would do is disengage the clutch

but who has a clutch these days?

[Raschel]

29. Not according to the woman who testified in front of congress. She said neutral didn't do anything,

even reverse did nothing. Finally when the engine slowed down, she could turn it off, not until it slowed to about 30 mph. though.

There was NOTHING she could do.

[Tesha]

45. Actually, shifting into reverse is probaly a mistake.

It's fairly likely that the transmission management
computer would ignore a command to engage reverse
if you're travelling forward at a high rate of speed.

The woman who spoke didn't seem to deliberately
select Neutral or give it any time to take effect; she
went right on to Reverse, and as I said, that was
probably a bad idea.

Tesha

[cally]

39. Some of the reports are saying it won't go into neutral

I heard a report on PBS where the woman tried to get it into neutral, then tried to turn it off, then put it into reverse. None of these worked and the brakes didn't work. She was just about to run into a guard rail so she wouldn't kill someone and she then got control of the car.

[Raschel]

40. It sounds like the same woman I saw on TV.

[guardian]

53. Most cars lock out reverse

when moving forward and more than 1-2 mph. Better to shift down one gear and turn off engine.

[hlthe2b]

7. Somehow, I suspect these logical steps are not working...

for everyone... like for instance the San Diego State Trooper and his family of four that died.. One would assume that he might have known what to do with such a situation. I'd like to think everyone has considered what to do in a high speed emergency situation, but having had a high speed tire blow out (80mph) in a Jeep Cherokee that I managed not to wreck, you never know until you experience it.

[smoogatz]

17. You'd think.

But even trained professionals don't always do the logical thing. Any evidence that he tried to put it in neutral?

[hlthe2b]

20. I'm not sure anyone knows... n/t

[haele]

38. He was driving a new Lexus with a keyless start/stop - a rental

- they had apparently just dropped the family sedan at the dealer's shop for work. His wife was on the cellphone calling for assistance when they crashed. It was heartbreaking, they aired the 911 call. The shift stick locked and he couldn't get it into neutral, the stop switch didn't work, and the brakes were burning, according to witnesses. He steered it as best he could for a soft landing, but at 130mph, airbags don't help much.

Haele

[Raschel]

31. They're not working. I saw a woman on the news tonite who testified about her experience.

Nothing worked for her. It was only through some fluke that the engine finally started slowing down.

[Kablooie]

8. I would prefer to step out of the car and take a deep breath to calm down before getting back in.

[Skittles]

9. I'd kick the shit out the car

[taterguy]

10. Yes, indeed

[pokerfan]

36. But not before giving it a stern talking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl3mfaWCnWw

Otherwise the car won't understand why itr's being punished.

[guardian]

12. Turning off the engine

and leaving the car in gear would slow the car faster. Though you will lose power steering and power brakes making it harder (but not impossible) to steer or brake.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. Even if you leave the key in the ignition?

[smoogatz]

19. Yep. Shutting off the ignition shuts off the pwer steering and power brakes.

Not the safest thing at high speeds. That's why it's better to put it in neutral--the car will immediately stop accelerating but you can still steer and brake.

[MineralMan]

24. Actually, the steering will work just fine at speed. It is only when the

car slows down that you'll notice the increased steering effort. As for the brakes, they work, too. Both feet on the brake pedal, and you'll be able to stop very nicely. Try it sometime on a nice straight road. You'll see. Everyone should drive their car at least once after turning the engine off while moving at normal speeds. You'd be suprised. It's not that big a deal.

That's another thing my father made me try. No problem. We were driving down an empty highway, and he reached over and turned the key off. I steered and brakes just fine.

[Tesha]

46. The one thing people need to be ready for...

...is that they get only one or two applications
("pumps") of the brake pedal before the power
assist is used up. Then, the brakes still operate,
but the force needed to apply them goes up maybe
by a factor of four or more.

This surprises some people ;).

(Just like you, I've "done the drill".)

Tesha

[ThomWV]

48. The thing to be careful about is the steering lock - shut off the ignition and it will lock

My suggestion is to just toss it into neutral and let the engine blow while you busy yourself with getting the car stopped safely.

[Tesha]

49. Do you have an example of a car that locks its steering simply by turning the key to the "Off"...

...position? 'Because I believe such a car violates the safety regulations.

Tesha

[Jamastiene]

13. 4. If all else fails, stick you head between your legs

and kiss your ass goodbye.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. When all else fails..................

[hlthe2b]

23. At least you will be protected from the pending nuclear blast...

;)

[petronius]

34. But only if you've managed to avoid Step 2 in the OP's second list

Personally, I'm not so flexible - so I'll just settle for a second helping of 'freaking the fuck out'... :)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. #4. When you get out of the car, look out for Fords.

Because you're more likely to get hit by one then by dying in a run away Toyota.

[Blue-Jay]

21. 1. Stop letting Toonces drive the car.

[Schema Thing]

27. Toonces has a terrorist mentality, that cat just don't care

if he lives or dies.

[eShirl]

33. k&r for Toonces.

[Raschel]

41. I miss Toonces!

[NYC_SKP]

42. Toonces wrecked cars, exclusively late 50s early 60s Jaguar sedans.

And for that I cannot forgive Toonces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VW6B7pGnnQ

[MineralMan]

25. Read and understand everything in your vehicle's owners manual.

You'll find it in the glove compartment in most cars. Once you do that, try some emergency procedures. Think about what to do in case of emergencies. That's all basic automobile stuff.

It's amazing that people never read their owner's manual. You can take it in the bathroom and use it for toilet reading. It could save your life. Seriously.

I guarantee that the owner's manual for every Toyota tells you how to shut the engine off in case of emergency. My Volvo's manual has a step-by-step guide on what to do if the throttle sticks open while driving. Seriously.

I also learned how to turn off the car's Service Engine light in the owner's manual. Amazing, huh?

[Edweird]

28. Immediately head towards the nearest Toyota dealership showroom. They have big glass storefronts

and specially designed cubicles engineered to slow your vehicle safely. Honest.

[asdjrocky]

32. Aim for bankers.

I kid.

[RamboLiberal]

35. Unfortunately not all victims had the time to do what you advise

In 2007, Bulent Ezal was pulling into the parking lot of a cliffside restaurant in Pismo Beach, Calif., when his 2005 Camry surged, went over the bluff and crashed on rocks 70 feet below. Mr. Ezal, 75, survived, but his wife, who was in the passenger seat, was killed.

"The car took off with force, pushing me back into my seat and cleared the curb," Mr. Ezal said in a recent interview. "The last thing I remember is my wife screaming, and I was looking at the clear blue sky."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703562404575067680423734178.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

And last week I read a story of a couple whose Toyota accelerated in a parking garagre smashing through the wall and dropping them to their deaths.

[smoogatz]

37. In the case of the 75-year-old,

you've got to suspect user error. Old people stomp on the gas instead of the brake all the time. Could've been the car, but the more likely scenario is driver confusion. The other one, who knows?

Obviously, if you're flying off a cliff or crashing through the wall of a parking garage, disregard my OP.

[HopeHoops]

43. The REAL list of things to do:

1. Put it in neutral
2. Stop it
3. Get out
4. Aim it at a really hard object where human/animal casualties are unlikely to occur upon impact
5. Reach in the window and shift it back into drive and then get the fuck out of the way
6. Call the insurance company so you can get what little they will pay to put toward a REAL car

[Soylent Brice]

44. i approve these steps.

:thumbsup:

[ThomWV]

47. Throw it into netural and let the engine blow

Actually the valves will float first and it will sort of sputter and die.

[Tesha]

50. Actually, the ignition system rev-limiter won't let an engine self-accelerate past the redline...

...on just about any car built in the last several decades.

Tesha

[harkadog]

51. Why do you say "if your Toyota" accelerates?

Sudden acceleration has occurred in all makes and models over the years. Every study I have read says that most of it is human error just like most accidents in general http://mfes.com/suddenaccel.html

[nonconformist]

52. Think Toyota will be adding that to their operator handbooks? nt