[straight_six]

It's day 3 of this woman's world tour, on the Today show. None of the hosts will dare to press her on her answers:
Q: "Did you try the brakes?"
A: "I tried everything".
This morning I actually heard her say the transmission doesn't have a "park" (it does). Here's what else she said:
"The first thing I did was call my husband, who works at an auto body shop. He told me to call 911, so that's what I did next". Yeah, because when I encounter a life-threatening emergency situation, I ignore what's around me and just start calling people. She also said "The car doesn't have a key, it has a pushbutton. I kept pushing it, it didn't work, so I held it for 15 or 20 seconds, and still nothing happened". Well at least I know how she spent her time while hurtling down the highway.

Every interviewer is afraid to call bullsh!t on her story. On one of the other forums, someone pointed out that in the video, you never see the brake lights come on, until the very end, where she stops and gets out.

Anyone have insight into this mess?

[Seminole]

Anyone who has a runaway unintended acceleration incident is a stupid person IMO.

There is nobody that convince me this lady did everything possible to stop the car. The Sorrento has a floor mounted parking brake which I'm betting she doesn't even know is there. If she stomped on the parking brake then stood on the regular brakes the car would come to a complete stop, guaranteed. Hell, I think every car sold can come to a complete stop, even with a engine revving at full throttle, using just the power of it's own brakes. The general public has no idea how a car works so when something like this happens they just flip the shit out and don't know what to do.

[Augenbrauezug]

She had to be told to pull up on the accelerator and hit the brakes? She shouldn't be driving.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Seminole

Anyone who has a runaway unintended acceleration incident is a stupid person IMO.

There is nobody that convince me this lady did everything possible to stop the car. The Sorrento has a floor mounted parking brake which I'm betting she doesn't even know is there. If she stomped on the parking brake then stood on the regular brakes the car would come to a complete stop, guaranteed. Hell, I think every car sold can come to a complete stop, even with a engine revving at full throttle, using just the power of it's own brakes. The general public has no idea how a car works so when something like this happens they just flip the shit out and don't know what to do.

^this.

i'd also like to add that there is absolutely no excuse for having a "runaway" car or a "stuck throttle." every single car has an ability to be put into neutral, regardless of what the engine is doing.
people just panic and get stupid.

[Templar]

She will make a ton of money out of this.

[straight_six]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

people just panic and get stupid.

Yes, and if I panicked like that, I'd stay the hell off the TV shows. She's being praised up and down for her capable driving, and her "miraculous" survival.

[straight_six]

Originally Posted by Templar

She will make a ton of money out of this.

I'm starting to get that idea. In each successive interview, she's more and more dolled-up. Can a reality show be far behind?

[daixloxbmw]

Yup, every incident of unintentional acceleration is just an idiotic driver panicking and blaming the car for their own retarded mistakes since they cannot explain why they could not stop the vehicle, most likely because they accidentally stomped on the wrong pedal.

A few independent tests, including Car and Driver, have shown that there is no car which has enough power/torque to overcome its brakes. Sure, if you really had a stuck throttle, it might take a really powerful car a while longer to come to a complete stop but it will eventually.

In this Car and Driver test:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...d-acceleration

You can see that that the V6 Camry and the G37 both had nearly identical braking distances from 70mph and 100mph with closed throttle and a fully open throttle. In other words, ~300 is not nearly enough power/torque to make much of a difference on braking distances. It is not until you get up to the 540hp supercharged Roush Mustang, does the power/torque start to have a noticeable effect on braking distances but even still, the car will eventually stop.

Bottom line is brakes are always more powerful than engines.

[Joekerr]

^ +1

Brakes are always more powerful...and I really don't know why you wouldn't just grab neutral.

That being said, it does throw you when you experience it and you aren't thinking completely clearly. I've never had it in a car, and am a little skeptical that it happens as frequently as people indicate, but I had it happen to me a couple of times on a dirtbike when I was younger.

The throttle cable would just get stuck (incidentally, this normally occurred when I was heading towards a tree with lots of low hanging branches and not a lot of manouvering room) - it does throw you a bit. But I remember just reefing on the throttle backwards (which generally didn't work), so I'd grab the clutch and kill the bike.

But grabbing neutral is not your first thought, rather its, "hey, why am I not slowing down, am I off the throttle?" followed quickly by "wow, that's a really big tree, this could really hurt."

[immiketoo]

People are stupid. The public is even more stupid for listening to this woman's drivel. We have more important things to worry about.

[carve]

From the Toyota unintended acceleration a few years ago. Classic

[askjeeves]

^best Prius Driver Ever!!!!!

[straight_six]

Hilarious! And a good demo to boot. It almost sounds like Seth Rogen.

[bga23]

[QUOTE=roastbeef;12583588every single car has an ability to be put into neutral, regardless of what the engine is doing.
people just panic and get stupid.[/QUOTE]

This was my first thought as well, put the damn thing into neutral and you'll coast to a nice, easy stop. It ain't that hard.

[Maestro]

The police were idiot too, Even if this did in fact happen and it was not the driver causing the problem, turn off the engine car can not run with the key turned off. The police never told her to just turn the car off. instead they chased her for 53 Miles and finally said pull up the accelerator and push the brakes at the same time.

Do you really think she was driving 100+ MPH and bent over and pulled up on the accelerator, I think not. also explain why the car kept going from 80 to 120 and back down again, stuck accelerators do not do that.

Lastly, notice that when she finally stop she jumped out and did not put the car in park. The police just saved her from a well deserved Darwin Award.

[carve]

That'll be my excuse next time I want to max out my 335. "Uhhh....sorry officer. The throttle stuck, and I was too stupid to turn it off, put it in neutral, or stand on the brakes". Seems to work.

[jpsum]

I heard the 911 call, she was way too calm to be real. Really bad acting voice if you ask me. She also said she tried to put it to neutral but it was "stuck". total BS. She probably just want attention or just want to sue for money just like that Prius guy.

[carve]

If the pedal was really stuck, like by a floor mat, the black box wouldn't tell you much. It probably didn't even save any data since there was no crash.

You CAN turn off a push button while driving. In fact, you can to it two ways in the kia: by holding it down for 2 seconds, or just by stabbing the button 3 times in less than 3 seconds, as you'd do in a panic.

The real question: why are the driver, mechanic husband, 911 operator, and the police all too stupid to tell her to do that, put in in neutral, lift the pedal with her toe, or just stand on the brakes. The fact that speeds varied from 80 to 120 demonstrate she was under control.

Originally Posted by http://www.kiamanuals.org/kia-590.html

You are able to turn off the engine (START/RUN) or vehicle power (ON), only when the vehicle is not in motion. In an emergency situation while the vehicle is in motion, you are able to turn the engine off and to the ACC position by pressing the ENGINE START/STOP button for more than 2 seconds or 3 times successively within 3 seconds. If the vehicle is still moving, you can restart the engine without depressing the brake pedal by pressing the ENGINE START/STOP button with the shift lever in the N (Neutral) position.

[bolinp78]

Did a little checking, the lady filed for bankruptcy back in '04 I think it was, and it appears that she's been remarried like 6 times. Just thought I'd point that out.

[eamon]

Originally Posted by bolinp78

Did a little checking, the lady filed for bankruptcy back in '04 I think it was, and it appears that she's been remarried like 6 times. Just thought I'd point that out.

This is actually useful information if it holds true

[bolinp78]

Originally Posted by eamon

This is actually useful information if it holds true

It was actually in 1999, I was thinking of the small claims judgment against her in 2002, released in 2004.

[daixloxbmw]

Originally Posted by carve

If the pedal was really stuck, like by a floor mat, the black box wouldn't tell you much. It probably didn't even save any data since there was no crash.

You CAN turn off a push button while driving. In fact, you can to it two ways in the kia: by holding it down for 2 seconds, or just by stabbing the button 3 times in less than 3 seconds, as you'd do in a panic.

The real question: why are the driver, mechanic husband, 911 operator, and the police all too stupid to tell her to do that, put in in neutral, lift the pedal with her toe, or just stand on the brakes. The fact that speeds varied from 80 to 120 demonstrate she was under control.

Well if the black box recorded the event, it would at least show whether or not the brake pedal was fully depressed.

Back to my earlier point about brakes being stronger than engines, the Kia's engine would barely make enough power/torque to have any noticeable effect on braking distances and it surely would not allow the car to accelerate from 80-120 mph.

So yeah... complete BS.