Author Topic: Accelerator jam car hits 135mph  (Read 4697 times)

Iain

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« on: March 11, 2006, 03:13:33 AM »
A motorist drove for 60 miles at speeds of 135mph after the accelerator on his BMW car jammed and his brakes failed.

Kevin Nicolle, 26, was on the A1 near Thirsk in North Yorkshire when the car started to accelerate.

"I was in tears most of the time on the phone to the police - I really could see myself dying," he told the BBC.

He had to drive on the hard shoulder to avoid crashing but eventually lost control and hit a roundabout near Blyth, Notts, but escaped unhurt.

Speaking to BBC Five Live about the incident on 5 March Mr Nicolle said: "I was travelling down the motorway and I came to traffic in front of me.

"I took my foot off the accelerator because it's automatic - but I wasn't slowing down at all.

"I hit the brakes. They were braking ok, they were keeping me at about 70mph.

"So I phoned up the police after I called the AA and they said straight away 'stick your hazard lights on and headlights on - we've go a helicopter on route to you'."

Police patrol cars were also sent but struggled to catch up with the BMW 318.

Mr Nicolle said: "Then the brakes started burning out - I could see smoke coming from the brakes."

He tried to put the car into neutral but the gears were jammed.

Mr Nicolle was in constant contact with the police on a hands-free phone.

As he approached Blyth he saw a sign for a roundabout.

"There was a load of cars parked waiting to go onto the roundabout, so I went on the inside on the hard shoulder to try to get around it.

"But doing that sort of speed there was no chance and I hit the roundabout head on.

"I remember the 999 lady saying 'he's crashed'.

"I survived the accident but I thought I was going to die in the fire."

But miraculously he walked away completely unhurt - and said he is now considering giving up driving for good.

Mr Nicolle said the police took the car away for tests and BMW said they would carry out a full investigation.

The R reg car had 107,000 miles on the clock and had three months remaining on the MOT.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4796264.stm
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K Frame

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2006, 03:21:46 AM »
Accelerator jams...

Brakes jam...

Gears jam...

I wonder if he tried shutting the key off, or was the key cylinder jammed, too?

I'm kind of dubious about this.
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M14rick

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2006, 04:53:16 AM »
Yeah, really.

Art Eatman

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2006, 05:20:40 AM »
In the linked article from WND, this Dudley Doofus said that if he had turned off the ignition and stopped the motor, he'd lose his power steering and thus control of the car.

Duh.

Oh, well.  Just shows to go ya that people don't get smarter.  An article in the Detroit "Free Press" in 1962 told of a woman whose accelerator jammed as she headed out on Michigan Avenue.  She finally wrecked at about 80mph.  She was afraid to tuirn off the ignition because it might have hurt the motor.

Duh.

Art
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Iain

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2006, 05:41:37 AM »
Although not mentioned in the article I have since heard on the radio that the police say he won't be facing any charges. I'm sure that in the forthcoming 'When Cars Attack' special the 999 tape will be quite interesting.
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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2006, 06:16:39 AM »
Neutral?

280plus

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2006, 06:29:45 AM »
I had an accelerator get stuck on me, I turned off the ignition and the steering wheel locked. I had to turn the thing back on so I could steer. It was manual so I jammed in the clutch and let it race wide open until I could get the car stopped. It was pretty exciting. I had a hitch hiker in the car, his eye's got as big as saucers. Mine probably did too...

Before anybody starts yelling,,,This was long ago, I haven't picked up a hitch hiker in decades. I used to get around by hitch hiking when I was a kid so I had a soft spot for them. Still do I guess but I don't stop anymore. Too bad you can't trust anyone anymore, it was a cool way of meeting interesting people.

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Sindawe

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2006, 06:39:27 AM »
Hmmm...I wonder if this BMW was one of those that shipped with a special version of Microsoft Windows on the engine control unit.  There were a series of articles a couple of years ago about problems with that combinations.  Things like doors locking/unlocking themselves, horns going off with nobody in the car and sudden accelerator lockups.
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griz

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2006, 07:38:13 AM »
You have to wonder if at some point DURING the crash if it might have occured to him that it would have been better to have shut the engine off when he was ready for it.  But then again, the concept of using up every last bit of your brakes by regulating your speed to 70 is not what I would have done either.
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K Frame

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2006, 08:06:14 AM »
You'll only have the steering lock if you rock the key back the whole way.

You can move the key to the extraction point, and then forward again to the accessory position.

I know, it's tough to think like that during something like this, but dammit, even having a locked steering wheel but no more engine power pulling you foward is, in some instances (straight section of road), a lot better than trying to ride the rocket.
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Firethorn

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #10 on: March 11, 2006, 08:42:01 AM »
On my car, just turning it back to Acc is enough to quit the engine, steering wheel lock doesn't engage until the key's turned all the way.

And I agree, if I'm looking at 0/70/135, I'm turning the engine off and stomping on the brake, even if it locks the steering wheel.  I'll just look for a straight section of road.

Sylvilagus Aquaticus

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #11 on: March 11, 2006, 10:16:26 AM »
This confirms the old adage that the difference between porcupines and BMWs is that on porcupines the pricks are on the outside.

Regards,
Rabbit.
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jefnvk

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #12 on: March 11, 2006, 10:33:08 AM »
Yeah, methinks that key off-key on would be the wise choice.  If my car ever goes to 135 (completely on its own, of course), I might as well enjoy it.  Can't see the use in crying over it.

Everytime my accelerator stuck in my old truck, kicking it a couple of times fixed it.

And does Britain normally measure distances and speeds in miles?
I still say 'Give Detroit to Canada'

280plus

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #13 on: March 11, 2006, 11:18:54 AM »
Yea, I was in "HOLY CRAP!!" mode. I do know that at the time, I needed the steering the most...

Wink
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Iain

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #14 on: March 11, 2006, 12:09:15 PM »
Yeah, we still measure speed and distances in miles. It was recommended that we go metric an awful long time ago but we haven't. Dual road signs will be probably be necessary for an awful long time if we do change.
I do not like, when with me play, and I think that you also

Guest

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #15 on: March 11, 2006, 12:11:23 PM »
If he had put the car in neutral at the start of the whole thing instead of riding the braks at full throttle for god knows how long I bet his gears wouldnt have been "jammed".

I always wondered why cars dont come with a simple kill switch to solve this sort of problem right off the bat.

Gewehr98

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #16 on: March 11, 2006, 12:40:59 PM »
A full brake application will usually overcome the engine's power through the torque convertor.  (I'm assuming the Beemer was an automatic, otherwise our bonehead hero could simply have slapped it into neutral) Of course, burning them up by trying to keep things down to 70mph vs. just plain stopping negates the whole deal.
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Art Eatman

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #17 on: March 11, 2006, 12:59:59 PM »
SCCA National races are 30 minutes.  About twenty minutes into one race, downtown at Austin, Texas, my throttle return spring broke.  Wide open throttle only.  So, I drove the last ten minutes by turn off the swithch, shift, turn on the switch, run, switch, shift, etc.--and repeated as necessary to the end of the race.  Maybe fifteen shifts per lap.  Can you say, "Seriously busy!"?  Still finished 2nd Overall.  One more lap and I'd have won.

I read about these folks who come from the shallow end of the gene pool, and the milk of my human kindness gets sorta curdled...

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jefnvk

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #18 on: March 11, 2006, 01:16:38 PM »
Huh, never knew that Iain.  Glad to know we aren't the only ones.
I still say 'Give Detroit to Canada'

InfidelSerf

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #19 on: March 11, 2006, 03:45:52 PM »
Am I the only one that would like to know the year of that 318?

I'm in the switch to neutral and kill the engine crowd.  

I find it hard to believe that all those parameters failed...
until I saw his picture.  call me a stereotyping bigot, but I believe it just might be possible with that dufus Smiley
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Iain

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #20 on: March 11, 2006, 04:28:53 PM »
It will have been registered somewhere between August '97 and August '98.
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Phyphor

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #21 on: March 11, 2006, 04:50:05 PM »
Quote from: 280plus
Yea, I was in "HOLY CRAP!!" mode. I do know that at the time, I needed the steering the most...

Wink
Least you still remembered you had a friggin' clutch pedal.

If this dumbass had done like you would have, he'da got stopped a lot faster (and somebody coulda popped the hood and pulled the plug wires to kill that sucker, )

The story sounds fishy to me...
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You don't even pay taxes. They take tax.
You get your check, money gone.
That ain't a payment, that's a jack." - Chris Rock "Bigger and Blacker"
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Phyphor

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #22 on: March 11, 2006, 04:52:14 PM »
And yea, if it was me:

In my Comet (Automatic) - Throw that SOB into 'N', keeps the power steering live, coast, get it stopped, hop out, pull coil wire, call for help.

In a stick: Pop it into neutral.  If somehow the 'gears jam', I should still have a working clutch pedal....
"You know what's messed-up about taxes?
You don't even pay taxes. They take tax.
You get your check, money gone.
That ain't a payment, that's a jack." - Chris Rock "Bigger and Blacker"
He slapped his rifle. "This is one of the best arguments for peace there is. Nobody wants to shoot if somebody is going to shoot back. " Callaghen, Callaghen, Louis La'mour

Guest

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #23 on: March 11, 2006, 04:54:14 PM »
Attention Officers of my "youth".

See? It really really happens.

I will neither confirm or deny I used that "reason" to get out of tickets, after coming to a halt , jumping out, raising hood and fiddlin' with the accelerator linkage...

IIRC there was TSB on some vehicles with a glitch like this, I forget. IIRC the suggestion was to shut key off as Art and others mentioned. Oh and then come see the dealer.

My most memorable "rectal massage moments" have been brakes.  First time I made to work fine, going out to lunch fine...leave to come home during rush hour and my pedal went to the floor...no resistance, just straight down.

I was like Art, real busy with the emergency brake...I made it to my mechanics place and parked it.

Second time...I was test driving a 1 y/o  "Pre-Owned Vehicle" the dealer had done a "multi point inspection" on.

My passenger was a Catholic Sister considering this Chrysler front wheel drive mini-van.
Freeway traffic with construction and orange barrels.

Her running that Rosary and doing her "Hails" - me running that emergency brake and going around orange barrels downhill, thru ramps, ...and doing my "Hells".

She did not buy that van, took me at at my word when I said I hated Chrysler products. She had a sense of humor, "giving them Hails/ Hells works, still think mine had a bit more weight in the situation though".

Someone donated a Volvo Station wagon for the meals on wheels.  Funny how stuff works out...

I felt like half a Blues Bro standing there with Sister in Habit waiting for the dealer to show up...she kept teasing about a Misson and If did not behave would rap my knuckles...

I was down to less than a half a pack of smokes...

doczinn

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Accelerator jam car hits 135mph
« Reply #24 on: March 11, 2006, 09:14:55 PM »
Push in the clutch, then at just the right time, let it out quick and stall the thing.

Not after you've stopped, but probably around 50 or so, just low enough to stall it without killing it.

Or just turn the key off, then back to "Acc" or "run" without turning it all the way to "start." Then you've got steering.
D. R. ZINN