Although I’m generally of the “cars shouldn’t go Herbie and start driving on their own” school of thought, stopping a runaway car really is, to quote Scott, “bush league material,” and although it’s certainly a bad look for Toyota, there are relatively few circumstances under which it should be fatal. So, if your car isn’t braking1 or starts accelerating or solving crimes and talking back, here’s what you should do:
- Shift into neutral for acceleration, or downshift for brake failure.
- Apply the brakes. If your brakes are out, gently engage the emergency brake.
- Hit your emergency flashers, find somewhere to pull over and kill the engine.
- This rarely happens anymore, but brake fade is a lot more likely after repeated hard braking or on steep inclines. This is why some mountainous highways have those escape roads for semis. ↩
Scott
/ February 24, 2010To be fair, if my car turned into KITT, i’d be pretty damn happy about it.
Or i might light it on fire. Depends.