Car at fault- accident

Ditzy_Mitzy

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

(source)

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.

The source states it was an 'R' reg BMW 318, which is probably too old to have an electronic throttle. I used to have a BMW of similar vintage and that had an ordinary throttle cable, therefore was not capable of being affected by the computer error you mention. I vaguely remember the story and that further investigation revealed it to be a pack of lies. 

Isn't is also the case that modern cars automatically close the throttle as soon as the brake pedal is pressed, regardless of the position of the accelerator?

DoaM

annabanana82 said:

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. 

Exactly what happened to me in May last year ... I slowed down (because vehicles in front did - a vehicle ahead made a late decision to take a left turn), the driver of the vehicle behind me panicked and pressed the accelerator rather than the brake, I was doing about 10MPH, the vehicle behind was doing about 50MPH when they hit me.

annabanana82

DoaM said:

annabanana82 said:

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. 

Exactly what happened to me in May last year ... I slowed down (because vehicles in front did - a vehicle ahead made a late decision to take a left turn), the driver of the vehicle behind me panicked and pressed the accelerator rather than the brake, I was doing about 10MPH, the vehicle behind was doing about 50MPH when they hit me.

We were stationary at a junction, it was a 30mph limit road but think she was speeding so guestimate that she hit us at around 50mph. Bizarrely it was the noise rather than the impact that I was really aware of.
Thankfully it was a sunday afternoon and very few cars or lorries on the road. 

DoaM

It was actually our 30th wedding anniversary that day, and we were en-route to our holiday break destination! The biggest worry for us was that our 9-month-old pup was on the back seat (in his harness and attached to a seat belt holder via a bungee-style cord). Thankfully he was OK, if not a little startled about sleeping on the back seat 1 minute - lying on the floor behind the driver's seat the next.

annabanana82

DoaM said:

It was actually our 30th wedding anniversary that day, and we were en-route to our holiday break destination! The biggest worry for us was that our 9-month-old pup was on the back seat (in his harness and attached to a seat belt holder via a bungee-style cord). Thankfully he was OK, if not a little startled about sleeping on the back seat 1 minute - lying on the floor behind the driver's seat the next.

Memorable for all the wrong reasons, i hope you've made up for it since.
Thankfully I was on the way home, and only groceries were ruined. My youngest was sat in the middle seat and the belt clipped his ear but was otherwise fine. The police said my other two been in the car they would have broken their legs with how the seats broke - so much to be thankful for. 
I do have lasting damage to my legs, neck and back but nearly there with sorting the insurance out!! 

[Deleted User]

Even in modern cars the brake pedal must be mechanically connected to the brakes so that even if the electronics fail if you push hard enough the car will stop. The brakes are more than powerful enough to overcome the engine.

So if you had pushed the brake pedal really hard there is no way the car could have accelerated. But if you only pushed it a bit then it's possible. Unfortunately you have no way to prove it.