French Frolic excuse #1

hendeg · Post by **hendeg** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 10:41 pm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/fe ... -car-chase

mckeann · Post by **mckeann** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 10:49 pm

Can't you just turn the ignition off??? And why when it ran out of fuel, did he decided crash into a ditch??

mikeyb13 · Post by **mikeyb13** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 10:56 pm

Seems very unlikely that a disabled driver could drive half way across the country at 125mph.
But we know different

woody · Post by **woody** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 11:40 pm

mckeann wrote:Can't you just turn the ignition off??? And why when it ran out of fuel, did he decided crash into a ditch??

Keycard in their pocket?

tut · Post by **tut** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:03 am

Difficult to judge without knowing all the circumstances, but the obvious one of turning off the ignition was explained by if done it would lock the steering wheel, which it does not until you take the keys out.

So that leaves a situation whereby the ECU has taken control and accelerated the car up to 125 from 60, and at the same time the brakes had failed, which has nothing to do with the ECU. No mention was made of the handbrake, or of changing down in gears which would have slowed it down, or blown the engine.

If it was in the UK he would be charged for using his mobile phone whilst driving, and exceeding the speed limit.

tut

j2 lot · Post by **j2 lot** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:48 am

Not sure - but think with keyless entry you can't turn the car off unless it is stopped and if it was an auto it might not change down, if revs/speed were above the rev limit. But the lack of brakes can't be explained /linked with the other 'failures' unless they didn't actually fail but rather were incapable of slowing a car on full throttle in top gear. There was a video of a similar incident in America filmed from a Police cruiser and I still couldn't fathom how there was no way of stopping it. The American one came to a conclusion when the engine lunched itself after 45 mins of bouncing off the rev limiter

hendeg · Post by **hendeg** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 6:58 am

It says that each time he tried to brake, the car accelerated. I wonder what would have happened if he tried the accelerator?

Sanjøy · Post by **Sanjøy** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:37 am

Wonder what mpg he got for the hour.

Corranga · Post by **Corranga** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:09 am

good old improvements in technology. 10 years ago you would simply pull out the key. Now you drive half way around the country at 125mph..

Couldn't he just engage neutral, let it bounce off the limit until it rolls to a halt, then get out and move far enough away that the keyless system recognises he has left the car?
I presume the ditch was because running out of fuel meant no power steering..

tut · Post by **tut** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:23 am

Sounds as if he did a bloody good job of driving over 100 miles at those speeds without hitting anybody and ending up alive.

If there was no way of shutting the engine off, then they had better get back to the drawing board, and I hope he gets a good pay out. As has already been pointed out, apart from everything going tits up, it should still have been possible to select neutral, unless it is locked out above a certain rpm. Plus there is the question of the handbrake, if manual it may not have been powerful enough when the robot took over, if an electrical switch like mine, I know from experience that it will engage at any speed if you hold it for a second as opposed to flipping it, then try and throw you through the window

tut

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:31 am

It happened to my parents old cortina on the A9 when I was a kid. I don't remember much as I missed it as I was to busy munching on a topic and reading the beano. I only noticed when I lifted my head to find to find out why we had pulled into a layby only to find my mother in tears. Apaprently a spring broke causing the accelerator to fall to the floor and stop working.

woody · Post by **woody** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 11:25 am

My understanding is the car had hand controls and was probably an auto. My mum's last 4 cars have had this kind of setup; they're not easy to jump ntoand drive straight away. Two push/pull rods connect a lever below the steering wheel to the brake and accelerator pedal. It one of the rods stopped working properly, say the accelerator rod jammed (it's supposed to telescope down like an ariel) it would mean as the brakes were applied, so would the accelerator be.

robin · Post by **robin** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 11:44 am

It had happened to him before with the same car. Renault inspected the car and told him there was nothing wrong with it ... incredible, but I guess if they couldn't reproduce the fault they would decide it was user error.

The brakes would be useless; the ABS would prevent the wheels from locking and actually stopping the car, and they would not be able to overwhelm the engine power for long; fluid boils. Anyone who has ever taken a normal family car on track knows that the brakes last just a few laps before being useless.

In his case he also claims that the brakes actually made the car go faster - as woody explained, that might be something to do with the disabled controls.

I cannot explain why he couldn't engage neutral/dip the clutch, but it will have something to do with the fact that the car was adapted for disabled drivers. Or maybe there is a lock out in the gearbox above a certain speed - our new car is auto and I use neutral a lot (save fuel

) but I've never tried engaging it at motorways speeds.

What's worse for this chap is that as he had some epileptic seizures during this episode he will now no doubt be prevented from driving for a few years

Cheers,
Robin

GregR · Post by **GregR** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:11 pm

You can't take the key out as you'll lock the steering when you try to turn the wheel. Dipping clutch would've been the best bet?

Mmmm frolic

woody · Post by **woody** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:15 pm

GregR wrote:You can't take the key out as you'll lock the steering when you try to turn the wheel. Dipping clutch would've been the best bet?

Mmmm frolic

But it's an auto with a keycard. If it had a key, you could cut the ignition and keep the key in for steering. Have never tried shifting an auto to N at speed.

Scottish Elises