What Should You Do If Your Car Accelerates Out of Control?

i am not the smartest person here but if i were in this spot i would either put it in netural or turn the key off and coast to a stop

I used to have a 1986 Toyota Camry back in the mid nineties and one day when my son-in-law was driving it, it accelerated beyond control. He managed to get it back to his destination. I called the Toyota dealer in the Shoals area of Alabama and they came to Nashville where this event happened and brought my car home on a carrier, fixed the problem and charged me nothing. Just before all this happened, they had been doing some work on my car and I don`t remember what it was that they worked on. I always believed something they did caused the problem in the first place but they didn`t seem to think so. It never gave me any trouble the rest of the time I had it.
I now have another Toyota Camry and occasionally the accelerator seems to want to stick when I start off from a traffic light.It is slow to accelerate when that happens.

Didn’t watch the video, however, my daddy was in law enforcement “way back when” and he taught us that if a vehicle speeds out of control and nothing else works, drag the car on anything solid around–a rock-face on a mountainside, parked vehicles–whatever. Loss of life is far worse than damage to property.

We don’t own a Toyota but approx. 5 years ago when our Kia Sedona van was being serviced, we had a loaner of the same model and I experienced the same problem as that of Toyota owners. I reported the problem and although the service dept. did not seem to take me seriously, I soon after received a recall notice regarding some type of cable to the throddle which I believe needed to be encased in order to protect it from freezing and malfunctioning.Just some food for thought as a possible connection.

I think it’s disgraceful that ABC News and Charlie Gibson didn’t take 30 seconds to point out to their viewers that the simple solution to a stuck accelerator is to put the car in neutral and then turn off the ignition?

I’ve ben around cars for 60 years. My job was repairing mechanical and electronic office equipment. I have also rebuilt many home devices, rather than toss them out.
I wonder if the gas pedal and/or the linkage to the fuel system may be too heavy, and not return to idle when the drivers foot is removed from the pedal.
I’ve found parts in cars that would stick in a wrong position after a few months or years, but would only work better, if the part(s) were removed, cleaned, perhaps re-alligned and re-installed, would they work correctly.
I’77, I’ve been driving many models since I was 16. Check on IT.!!

I have 2007 Toyota Yaris that has a check the engine light on for a yr some weeks it dosen’t come on ,when it comes on the car dies, can turn key off turn it right back on and go on down the road. I have replaced 3 throttle bodies and the complete gas pedal. It accerates itself up still and still comes up with codes to replace these parts.

P.S. to my previous comment: I had a car that accelerated and WOULD NOT TURN OFF. I put it in neutral and pulled to the side, THEN used both the handbrake and footbrake – and then turned off the key (again) till it choked and coughed and jerked before it finally quit.

Contrary to all the other posts, I have had my 2002 Camry for over 6 years, have 137,000 miles on it and have replaced only front disk pads, an $80 A/C module, tires, filters, and wiper blades. I’ve used the floor mats from the beginning. NO problems. I would take the car anywhere, despite its miles — taking a 12-hour trip tomorrow.

Put car in neutral. Coast to stop then turn off key

Take your foot off of the accelerator.

No one has mentioned the possibility of the car’s cruise control operating without anyone’s knowledge. That’s the only other way the accelerator can make the car go faster and without the driver being involved. Call your dealer!!

I use to own a Chevy Luv that accelerated and was very dangerous. I would have to put in the clutch and hit the brake to stop at a light or stop sign. At first I thought that the accelerator was sticking, but it was a mechanical defect. Eventually the motor froze up and never was fixed properly, but it was a very scary situation. We bought the truck new in around 1978, I think. It was so long ago it’s hard to remember. I hope the Toyota company will be able to fix the problem.

I am very disappointed in Charlie Gibson and Brian Ross of ABC news. They make the Toyotas sound like a terrible risk. I have driven Toyotas since 1982 and they are wonderful cars, trucks and SUVs. ABC should look at the long and outstanding track record of Toyota before they start beating them down like they did last night. Toyotas sure beat the heck out of Chrysler and GM products. I won’t be watching your news any longer.

I didn’t see the World News Report, but the Nightline version did have the ‘what to do if this happens’ in it. As the owner of a 2008 Highlander that was not included in the floormat recall I am very grateful to ABC news for this info. My vehicle is equipted with the push button start. While I still trust Toyota’s reliablity at the moment, I know that computerized anything can lead to weird goings on. This push button start and keyless entry makes me uncomfortable too. The more these vehicles become computerized, the more trouble we are likely to have, and the harder they may be to find and solve. The people who have critisized the drivers for not doing the right thing should remember that these people were put into life threatening situations. The average driver probably never has a reason to use the neutral gear in an automatic so to them it is simply a ‘click’ on the gear shift that they pass on the way to drive. It is amazing how many these days can’t drive a manual transmission…so why would they know anything about neutral? This is why this info the Consumer Reports driver was demonstrating is extremely important and truly may save a life. Toyota is concerned about their bottom line here as most businesses are, but they are forgetting one thing. They still have more cars to sell…and I’m not dead yet or finished buying cars.

I have a 2003 Jaguar S-type that also accelerates for no reason. It is not just the gas pedal getting stuck – it tries to speed up. I have to put on the brake as hard as possible and shift into neutral whereupon the engine races way up and then returns to normal function. I have taken it in several times for service for this but it never does it while they are looking at it so they never find anything wrong. It has to be a computer problem telling it to speed up.

I have been a Toyota Master technician for twenty-six years. I’m in and out of about a dozen customer vehicles a day. I can easily count on one hand the number of customer vehicles that have the proper floor mats, correctly installed! Approximately 75% either have factory floor mats incorrectly installed, non-factory floor mats that don’t fit properly, or two, three, or even four floor mats stacked on top of each other!! Some are clearly resting on top of the accelerator pedal, some are wedged under the brake or clutch pedals, all causing an unsafe condition. We can fix cars…we can’t fix stupidity.

Its not surprising that people don’t know what to do when their car suddenly accelerates or if the engine suddenly dies while your rolling down the road doing 40+ mph. Most people don’t know their car has a ‘hand brake’ and wouldn’t know how to use it in an emergency. People don’t take the time anymore to learn how things work….they have the mind set that if it breaks I’ll just replace it.

I found it interesting that the SECOND poster (Wes Deaver) expressed the exact same thoughts I had, which is how much time the driver had to resolve the problem. They had to have at least a minute, if not more. That’s an eternity. Especially considering two factors. One, the simplicity of the solution: neutral. And, despite what the guy in the Consumer Reports video says, neutral is not that hard to find. It’s one detent up from where you are. The second factor: IT WAS A COP DRIVING!!! You know cops, right? Those ‘professionals that are highly trained how to handle emergency situations behind the wheel’. They’re supposed to be able to make split second decisions under pressure, yet this idiot couldn’t find neutral when he (or was it a she?) had an eternity to do it. Well, no one ever said it took intelligence to be a cop. And the fact that they died means they qualify for the next Darwin award. They deserve it.

I have had 11 different Ford models over the past 20 years. The accelerators have never stuck and the transmission is disengaged when you put the car in neutral at any speed. Maybe simplicity is key, or maybe it’s the Ford/Volvo safety engineering at work? Gee, I think every should avoid the Lexus models that supposed to be able to parallel park by themselves.

Turn the key in the ignition back a click. Do not turn it to where the steering wheel “locks”. Geez, Cassandra… would you let your car race up to 100 MPH instead?
Every time a car goes out of control it amazes me how these fools can’t do simple things to shut it off. Turn the key back or/and neutral for automatics. It isn’t hard.

As prior post suggests; why not a “kill button” such as those used on ATV’s etc. This could give instant relief. Cheers, bgates

Thanks for an informative, non-panic-mode report on this issue. Most news shows don’t discuss in detail how and why this problem is occurring and how to react to it.
Your comments on shifting into neutral are valid – I was driving a friend’s truck and using the manual shifting paddle on the auto transmission. They thought I was breaking the truck. They had no idea how to shift the transmission, much less put it in neutral.
The “start” button thing was interesting too – have to HOLD IT DOWN to make it work.
But the real solution was in the Jetta – program the computer to bring the engine to idle when applying the brakes.
Since modern engines are all electronically controlled, all this takes is a FEW LINES OF COMPUTER CODE.
Toyota should reprogram the Engine Management Computers on all their cars to fix this problem.

wanted to share my view, but see there is plenty here…what I would think could be done for not so smart people, DMV manuals (I know two NY and WA) should HAVE (and these do NOT) winter driving tips and require drivers to pass these and on what to do, also if brakes are not working or car speeds up..there was plenty here explained but this would at least make everyone who is learning driving be prepared and just be aware what to do…

Car is essential things for every person’s life. You give nice video for control car. Its best tips to every one.