What to Do If Your Car Runs Away

Several years ago I saw on TV a true account of a girl's car suddenly accelerating on its own and racing down the road at speeds over 100 mph. I assume the accelerator stuck, but in any case, she couldn't get it to slow down. She even tried turning off the key, but couldn't get it to turn off. I'm not sure what all she tried, but in any case, nothing worked.

Fortunately, she had her cell phone along and called 911. They called the Highway Patrol and the Patrol called ahead and had their officers try to clear a path for the girl's car. She was screaming the whole time, but doing a great job of manipulating the car around other traffic. Eventually she came to some obstacle, which I can no longer recall, but I'm thinking it was road construction. I remember seeing her car sail over several other vehicles and end in a crash.

Uninjured, she crawled out of her wounded vehicle and the first words she said were, "How many did I kill?" and she broke down in sobs. The story had a happy ending, however, with no serious injuries involved.

I couldn't help thinking what might have happened if she hadn't had her cell phone along and been able to use it. Would the Highway Patrol, thinking she was drunk or running from the law, have shot out her tires? Or shot her?

If she had been able to turn off her ignition, she would have lost her electric brakes and steering and undoubtedly would have had a terrible accident.

Recently the makers of Toyotas have been confronted with a problem with some of their vehicles that causes uncontrolled acceleration.

As it happens, we own a Toyota Camry, but fortunately, that year's model has not yet been put on the list for recall. We had been planning to pass it on to a granddaughter and buy a Toyota Sienna before long. Now we're having second thoughts about the wisdom of that. The last thing we'd want to see happen would be her having an accident because of a flaw in the car.

But if she does wind up with our Camry, we'll caution her to be aware of the possibility of uncontrolled acceleration, and what to do if it should happen. The following would be good steps to take in such a situation, regardless of the kind of car one drives.

1. Whenever possible, take along a cell phone, turn it on, and keep it at hand in case a need should arise to call 911. If you need to use it, dial 911, then turn on the speaker. Put the phone in a place where it will not fall, but can still transmit your voice and receive incoming information.

2. If your car should suddenly accelerate and you can't stop the acceleration by putting pressure on the brakes, DO NOT turn off the key. Doing so will guarantee your losing both power steering and power brakes, which will almost surely cause a crash.

3. DO put the car in neutral. (The next time you get in your car, familiarize yourself with the location of neutral on your gear shift and think how it would be to move to neutral when rolling down the road. It might be best not to actually attempt to shift into neutral while moving unless it's absolutely necessary, as you could accidentally put it in a different gear and damage your transmission.)

4. Ease on your brakes and steer the car onto the shoulder of the road, or into a parking lot, etc., if convenient, as soon as the car loses enough speed to safely make the turn. Once the car has stopped rolling, turn off the key and put into "park."

5. If necessary to restart the car and move on, be extremely cautious, and at the first sign of rapid acceleration, immediately shift back into neutral, get off the road, and call for help.

Sometimes just planning ahead and imagining what we'd do in an emergency can help us keep a clear head, make good decisions, and possibly save lives.