Car at fault- accident

flier

lesalanos said:

flier said:

Yes and that was the stance I took right from the start, but having driven an automatic for the first time today I feel confident that it wasn’t my foot at fault. What if it is a fault with the car and how will I ever know for sure.

Confused.  How can you have driven an automatic for the first time today if you had an accident in one? 
Im guessing you got confused and pressed the wrong pedal

Sorry for the confusion. For the first time since the accident. Been driving automatics for 8 years so we’ll used to driving them and feel sure I didn’t press the wrong pedal. 

DUTR

flier said:

Don’t want to go into too much detail. Automatic car speeded up from stationary, it all happened very quickly. 

Sounds like you pressed the accelerator pedal, but even then you've gotta give it some beans to hit another vehicle and leave the road. Many modern cars have AEB as standard now.
Believe it or not the ECU can be interrogated for details of the driving before the accidents.

strawb_shortcake

Obviously not knowing the specifics of the accident, but when a car went into the back of me the driver said she hit the wrong pedal, and put her foot down on the accelerator rather than the brake in a panic. Police explained it was actually very common, people panic and mistakes then accidents happen. 

Additionally trying to remember exactly what happened after something like that is tricky too. Both the front seats broke in my accident the backs kind of snapped and fell backwards, I have no recollection of that what so ever.

lopsyfa

flier said:

lesalanos said:

flier said:

Yes and that was the stance I took right from the start, but having driven an automatic for the first time today I feel confident that it wasn’t my foot at fault. What if it is a fault with the car and how will I ever know for sure.

Confused.  How can you have driven an automatic for the first time today if you had an accident in one? 
Im guessing you got confused and pressed the wrong pedal

Sorry for the confusion. For the first time since the accident. Been driving automatics for 8 years so we’ll used to driving them and feel sure I didn’t press the wrong pedal. 

Sounds like you are not used to driving an automatic. A common mistake coming from a manual is to try and drive an automatic with both feet. This can result in accidentally pressure the accelerator. I don't think there is any mechanical faults here.

facade

In The Olden Days cars had a linkage or a wire from the pedal to the throttle. Nowadys there is no connection at all, and the throttle is controlled by a computer.

As everyone who doesn't actually own a computer running windows 10 knows, computers can never ever ever go wrong, so any problem is entirely the driver's fault, like this one

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

Reads that turning it off, trying to select neutral etc. didn't work as the computer was working perfectly, the only thing that is still mechanical is the brakes, and he wore them out.

I don't think they found anything whatsoever wrong with the car either.

Ectophile

If you wear out the brakes trying to stop an out-of-control car, you did it wrong.  If that ever does happen, stamp on the brakes as hard as you can.  And keep holding the brakes until the car stops and stalls.

That is, unless you are actually stamping on the accelerator, in which case hit the other pedal!

Car_54

facade said:

In The Olden Days cars had a linkage or a wire from the pedal to the throttle. Nowadys there is no connection at all, and the throttle is controlled by a computer.

As everyone who doesn't actually own a computer running windows 10 knows, computers can never ever ever go wrong, so any problem is entirely the driver's fault, like this one

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

Reads that turning it off, trying to select neutral etc. didn't work as the computer was working perfectly, the only thing that is still mechanical is the brakes, and he wore them out.

I don't think they found anything whatsoever wrong with the car either.

Presumubly not, since he was later arrested for dangerous driving.

knightstyle

We used to have an Auris and had a similar experience when the fitted car mat fouled the accelerator pedal, it had the MMT box and started reving and trying to go fast. Managed to stop by braking hard, clutch started smelling and turned off with the key.  The car drove OK afterwards and we kept it for another year without any problems.

nologo

I agree with ,,"knightstyle".  in my 45+ years as a mechanic its always the unsecured floor mat in the drivers footwell. useally rubber ,  with the reason "how can it be that its just to keep it clean". In the main dealership I work in we ALWAYS  remove it & put it in the boot, we don't care how much they moan (and they do despite us telling them when they pick their vehicle up)  We are required to by the manufacture, no ifs or buts ,its to important  over ten people have died because of this .

DD265

I've had a car mat get on the accelerator pedal too, it was never something that would've occurred to me before it happened. Now I'd know to check (hopefully having time to do so) but at the time I looked down to double check I had my foot on the correct pedal and spotted the issue before hitting a wall.