How do you stop a car with a jammed accelerator?
01-02-2010
The recall of thousands of Toyotas with potentially faulty pedals raises a terrifying hypothetical scenario - what should you do if the accelerator on your car jams?
It's a driver's worst nightmare. You try to slow down but find the accelerator pedal is stuck - you're in a runaway car.
The world's largest carmaker Toyota has recalled millions of vehicles across Europe and the US due either to the risk of accelerator pedals becoming stuck on the floor mat or jamming on their own.
Toyota insists the jamming problem is very rare and that it has only received 26 reports of any kind of problem in Europe. But stories have surfaced in recent days of Toyota drivers who have briefly experienced being out of control of their car.
It seems almost like a sequence from a film.
But however unlikely the scenario is, there is a practical question - how would you react if your accelerator became stuck?
The most important thing to do is to stay calm and not do anything rash, says Andrew Howard, head of road safety at the AA.
"The brakes will still work, the clutch will still work. The biggest problem is staying cool - as we've seen from the snowy weather people tend to panic when things start to go wrong. In a few seconds you can go into a skid and hit a tree."
Some drivers might be panicked into an unwise course of action.
