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#6
6th March 2010, 12:22 PM
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You shouldn't have had the beans at lunch. Clench! CLENCH!
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#7
6th March 2010, 12:59 PM
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Quick! Throw out an anchor!
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#8
6th March 2010, 01:40 PM
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#9
6th March 2010, 07:20 PM
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#11
6th March 2010, 07:35 PM
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#14
7th March 2010, 07:34 AM
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Well, if I were really posting from behind the wheel, I'd need a slowing answer quickly. Given all the smartass responses, I died laughing rather than driving into a bridge abutment.
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#15
7th March 2010, 07:51 AM
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Heh heh. You said butt.[/beavis]
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#17
7th March 2010, 11:13 AM
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#18
7th March 2010, 02:50 PM
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Look, Monkey-boy, what's yer problem? If I say it runs on a battery AND on gas, is that not the definition of a hybrid? What part of gas-and-electric is confusing you? (And let's leave the flatulence out of this, since gentlewomen like myself — ahem — [blushes fiercely, closes parentheses]). What can I say to help un-befuzzle you?
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#19
9th March 2010, 04:15 AM
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Looks like there was a Prius with a stuck accelerator. Fortunately, he managed to stop with the help of the police:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyota...0046912&page=1
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#20
9th March 2010, 04:20 AM
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#21
9th March 2010, 07:43 AM
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#22
9th March 2010, 08:17 AM
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Interesting article.
He had a runaway car (allegedly) but when directed by the police managed to slow it with the brakes. Then heroically managed to hold the engine-off button in for the three seconds it takes to shut the engine off. Wonder how he managed to do all this while talking to his lawyer on the cell-phone? I suppose we'll find out when they make the Lifetime Movie --- "My car dealer tried to kill me!" Seriously, and especially on a car like the Prius: the brakes will override an accelerator mashed to the floor. You will get some ugly noises and a lot of burning Ferodo but you will stop. Of course, that doesn't sound as dramatic in court when you're out to win the Litigation Lottery.
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#25
9th March 2010, 10:14 AM
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Apparently I'm missing something here.
Isn't it obvious that putting the car into neutral and braking will slow the car down? Why are all these people (in the news) allowing the car to accelerate beyond safe speeds?
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#26
9th March 2010, 10:18 AM
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The rest are no doubt pleading ignorance and going after the corporate dollar.
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#27
9th March 2010, 10:24 AM
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I'm not about to claim to have driven every car on the market, but in every automatic I have driven it's not that hard to switch from D to N. (For safety reasons you must depress the brake before shifting into and out of Park and Reverse, but all other gears can be engaged without use of brakes.)
Maybe some cars have a safety lock to prefect accidental disengagement while driving at higher speeds, but if that's the case I think the maker is making a mistake.
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#28
9th March 2010, 11:04 AM
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As for this; "For safety reasons you must depress the brake before shifting into and out of Park and Reverse", that is definitely not universal!
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#29
9th March 2010, 03:08 PM
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I imagine there is a lot of panic involved when your car takes off like that, though. So it's probably hard for people to think too clearly if it suddenly happens to them. Kind of like how exit doors are supposed to open out, because a panicking crowd will push into one that opens in, effectively blocking any chance of escape.
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#30
9th March 2010, 03:30 PM
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I agree that in a panic some folk may not know how to react. It's just instinctive to me, which is why I can't fathom it's not for others.
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#31
9th March 2010, 03:41 PM
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Zeener, you should never panic until you're absolutely certain it's the right thing to do. I was laughing at the guy in California who was out of control in a Prius today; it was all over the news. He admitted he didn't even try to put the car in neutral. If I understood the report correctly, he never tried, even when the 911 operator asked him to. Sure pal, driving out of control at 90 mph is better than trying something simple. By the way, I know my Toyota (not a Prius) will shift to neutral at highway speeds; I've done it. I think it would be better to blow up the engine than die, but I guess some people disagree.
Hey Islander, do us a favor. Take your Prius out and shift to neutral while speeding out of control down some local highway. Let us know if it explodes or anything.
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#33
9th March 2010, 03:49 PM
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#34
9th March 2010, 03:51 PM
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#35
9th March 2010, 03:56 PM
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Ah. Thanks HKF! I was waiting for someone to reinforce my faith in humanity, and affirm that not all of us are hopeless children when something goes wrong.
I forgot about the electronic gear shift. And it jibes with the reports of the ignition failing to respond when those hapless drivers suddenly find themselves in super-acceleration. The whole system is just buggy.
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#36
9th March 2010, 04:03 PM
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What really stuck out in one of the reports (the one where the guy and his family are calling 911 and the tape ends with a crash) is that he was a highway patrolman who taught safe driving courses. That tape bothered me to listen to but I didn't find he sounded panicky until the end when they crashed. Disturbing stuff.
I have a list of things to make sure my kids know before leaving the house and one of them is about putting the car in neutral. Toyota will likely have their problem fixed long before they are driving but it's still good advice. I never learned it when I was starting to drive.
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#37
9th March 2010, 04:05 PM
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For shifting to neutral to work, you have to have enough time to do it, too. If you rapidly accelerate and crash into something before you have time to even process what's happening, no advice in the world is going to save you or others. I'm renting a car for an upcoming vacation, and I *really* hope it's not a Toyota.
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#38
9th March 2010, 04:12 PM
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#39
9th March 2010, 04:13 PM
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 Ask if they have any Pintos on the lot!
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#41
9th March 2010, 04:21 PM
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Like the time I learned why you shouldn't drive in flip-flops.  Personally, I wouldn't feel nervous about getting a Toyota as a rental or even buying one. I think the publicity magnifies the true number of problems occurring out there and masks the problems with other makes which we aren't currently hearing about. 911 tapes and mobile videos stick in your consciousness in a way that dateline episodes never could have twenty years ago.
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#42
9th March 2010, 04:23 PM
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Okay, I didn't respond to this thread immediately because I assumed that, by the time I actually saw it, Islander would already be dead and, thus, not needing my advice. Good to see she survived the ordeal.
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#43
9th March 2010, 04:25 PM
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#44
9th March 2010, 04:34 PM
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#45
9th March 2010, 04:35 PM
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C'mon, you simmerin' cauldron of feminine loveliness, your post was a little ambiguous. But that's just the English teacher in me. Give the monkey boy a wink and let him watch you walk away.
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#47
9th March 2010, 04:40 PM
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#48
9th March 2010, 04:44 PM
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Don't you belong back on the dope?
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#49
9th March 2010, 04:51 PM
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Excuse me?
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Linear Mode
