10-13-2009, 11:03 AM
John Wrote:4) The wreck occurred at the bottom of a steep hill - that road progresses to drop about 1000' in elevation over the course of about 2 miles
I'm not sure the articles I saw had any of these details, so I don't feel too bad for ignoring them. This specific case mentioned isn't really the issue to me though. I maintain it has happened before, will continue to happen, and it's due to SEVERE driver error. I'll even go so far as to say that the people who would make such a mistake and respond so poorly in the face of "unintended acceleration" would be the same people that would run a red light, hit a motorcycle, cyclist, or pedestrian, and not understand how it could be their fault. They are people that shouldn't be driving, and many of them are people we know, our parents and friends. I HOPE they aren't us.
I have two questions though. And I haven't spent any time in a "modern" car with push button start and other apparently more confusing controls, so these are honest questions:
1) Is it really that hard to find neutral? Forget reverse or parking brake, or any of that silly stuff, but neutral = problem solved.
2) I have operated under the assumption (I don't remember where I've heard it, nor have I checked the numbers myself) that properly designed and operating brakes greatly overpower the engine they came with. Going downhill obviously makes this job more of a challenge, but engineers usually design for worst case and more, and I would think automotive engineers would do the same.
I spent a few minutes the other day looking for brake calculators, but didn't find anything that made it easy for me and gave up. Does anyone care to find out if this is true? Is it still true for a 500+ HP car going downhill? I of course understand that eventually any brakes will eventually overheat in such a situation, but if you're going downhill at 150MPH, and jam on the brakes, will they be able to dissipate 500HP and have leftovers for long enough to stop the car?
Sounds like something to do with my next rental car :lol:
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a van is a good guy with a van