UK Driver can't stop 318i - accelerator stuck

[Kirby]

Uhhhhh, why didn't he just turn off the ignition?!?!?!?!?!?

http://www.itv.com/news/britain_1701730.html

Driver's accelerator horror
8.44AM, Sun Mar 12 2006

A driver has told how he careered along a major road at up to 130mph after the accelerator on his car jammed.

Kevin Nicolle, 25, was unable to stop the automatic BMW going at top speed following the malfunction on the A1.

The AA and the police began a high-speed pursuit of the vehicle through three counties after he notified them.

The 1998 BMW 318 was only finally brought to a halt 60 miles later when it crashed into a roundabout near Worksop, Nottinghamshire and flipped on to its roof.

Mr Nicolle managed to walk away from the wreckage unharmed, and he was in tears as he told reporters that he felt lucky to be alive.

However, he was not sure if he would ever be able to drive again.

He said: "I'm in two minds even sitting in friends' cars, I don't feel safe any more.

"I want to get back to driving but I'm not sure if I can. Driving is my life."

Mr Nicolle had been on the way back to his home in Southsea, Hants, after visiting friends in Newcastle.

He first noticed the fault near Catterick in Yorkshire, and tried using the brakes to slow down while weaving through traffic and calling emergency services.

Police have apparently told Mr Nicolle that he will not be prosecuted over the incident.

A spokesman for BMW said that they were planning to inspect the vehicle next week and added that there was no known history of accelerator faults with that BMW model.

 

[Militant-Grunt]

Wow.. Idiot hahaha, it says nothing about the brakes not working either.

 

[DrivingTopless]

Another news source reported that applying his brakes only slowed the car to about 70mph before they wore all the way down.

 

[Militant-Grunt]

Another news source reported that applying his brakes only slowed the car to about 70mph before they wore all the way down.

Wow.. or Faded. But what about the ignition still haha.

 

[Big Daddy]

I am curious to know the year of the car as BMW did have a sticking throttle recall on some 97-98 models.

 

[epj3]

how about putting it in neutral. It's just an engine, and bmw would replace it since it is obviously their fault.

 

[foomonkey525i]

Turning off the ignition locks up the steering wheel. Leaving it in gear is pretty much retarded, though.

 

[E30m42cab]

Turning off the ignition locks up the steering wheel. Leaving it in gear is pretty much retarded, though.

Turning off the ignition, and then turning it to the On position without restarting the engine does not lock the steering... but yeah, what an idiot.... there are so many ways to stop the car.... gearing down, neutral, braking... I hope he can't bring himself to drive any more... makes everyone else a bit safer.

 

[epj3]

You're both wrong. Turning off the ignition on ANY BMW does NOT lock the steering! Turning off the ignition and REMOVING THE KEY locks the steering wheel. Go try it on your cars

And turning the ignition off then back on, will re-start the engine. If you have a manual transmission and turn the ignition off but let it in gear, the engine will still be turning over at however many rpm.

 

[Militant-Grunt]

You're both wrong. Turning off the ignition on ANY BMW does NOT lock the steering! Turning off the ignition and REMOVING THE KEY locks the steering wheel. Go try it on your cars

And turning the ignition off then back on, will re-start the engine. If you have a manual transmission and turn the ignition off but let it in gear, the engine will still be turning over at however many rpm.

Put in into 5th or 6th to stall it then..

 

[nadroj]

take it out of gear and turn off the ingition how hard can it bee

 

[mjbst111]

take it out of gear and turn off the ingition how hard can it bee

Yeah just make sure you come to a stop on the first brake pump. You only get a few chances (one or 2 pumps) before you don't have any more power brakes with the engine stopped.

Its dang hard to stop a car after you used all the power brakes.....

 

[codex57]

There's another article floating around. Basically, he claimed that:

1) Turning off the ignition would have killed the power steering and he felt that would have been worse as he would have lost control without the power steering.
- Total BS b/c when you're going straight, even at high speeds, you don't need power steering.

2) Afraid to drop it into neutral since the revs would run too high and blow up his car.
- Total BS since he was driving an auto. The revs don't go up, they drop to idle speed. I've done this numerous times before and at high speeds as well.

3) That left his only option of standing on the brakes until they wore out and he crashed when he encountered a roundabout or whatever.
- like burning out your brakes and then flipping and crashing your car is much safer than just blowing up your engine (like he was afraid of) and coasting to a stop.

Guy claims he's a car nut. Total BS. I say prosecute his ass, at the very least for being such a poseur.

 

[mjbst111]

2) Afraid to drop it into neutral since the revs would run too high and blow up his car.
- Total BS since he was driving an auto. The revs don't go up, they drop to idle speed. I've done this numerous times before and at high speeds as well.

with an auto and the throttle stuck the revs would bounce off of the limiter just like a manual in neutral.

 

[Kirby]

NOW there's great logic - I don't want to blow the motor or drive without power steering, so I'll risk killing other motorists until I crash and total the car.

What's wrong with this picture?

 

[Big Daddy]

He should have headed for a block wall and hit it head on while standing on the accelerator!