Kaushal Gandhi, 32, was driving on the M40 when he called the police emergency number to report his car was stuck in cruise control and he could not stop it. The conversation continued for eight and a half minutes until Mr Gandhi drove into the back of a truck at 116 mph at which time he expired and he was then minus a head since Fox helpfully reports it became detached as a result of the accident.
There was no indication of a fault with the vehicle and the coroner ruled out suicide or drugs although the means by which a coroner may rule out suicide are unclear. (Fox News: Driver in fatal crash's frantic call claimed speeding car was stuck in cruise control)
The car wasn't broken, at least not according to preliminary study. The driver was not broken by drugs, etc. So why couldn't he stop the car.
Unknown about your plan but I'm going with this one:
- Hit the brakes since the cruise is usually linked so it cuts out if the brakes are used. Even if the motor doesn't rev down, the brakes should still slow the car.
- Turn off the ignition. My power steering will get like a truck but the car won't go anywhere without any fire.
- Use the handbrake. It's not electronic so that will always work to at least slow you down.
If hitting the brakes doesn't cut out the cruise control then the electronics are so buggered those cars should be grounded until Volkswagen fixes them.
For most cars, turning off the ignition is mechanical so it's hard to imagine how that could fail.
If the handbrake doesn't stop the vehicle then something is so seriously wrong it should be banned. It might even be law that a handbrake must not have electronic or power assists, etc.
We don't know if the cops suggested any of these things to Mr Kaushal and, at that age, he should have known the steps anyway. They had eight and a half minutes to review the situation so it's mystifying why they could not get the car stopped.
The assumption is the story is true since it was reported in Fox News and credited to The Guardian. Neither typically presents anything which will ever have any evidentiary value in a courtroom and tabloid stories like this one won't help that much. In any case, if the story is true then how is it possible.
There was no indication of a fault with the vehicle and the coroner ruled out suicide or drugs although the means by which a coroner may rule out suicide are unclear. (Fox News: Driver in fatal crash's frantic call claimed speeding car was stuck in cruise control)
The car wasn't broken, at least not according to preliminary study. The driver was not broken by drugs, etc. So why couldn't he stop the car.
Unknown about your plan but I'm going with this one:
- Hit the brakes since the cruise is usually linked so it cuts out if the brakes are used. Even if the motor doesn't rev down, the brakes should still slow the car.
- Turn off the ignition. My power steering will get like a truck but the car won't go anywhere without any fire.
- Use the handbrake. It's not electronic so that will always work to at least slow you down.
If hitting the brakes doesn't cut out the cruise control then the electronics are so buggered those cars should be grounded until Volkswagen fixes them.
For most cars, turning off the ignition is mechanical so it's hard to imagine how that could fail.
If the handbrake doesn't stop the vehicle then something is so seriously wrong it should be banned. It might even be law that a handbrake must not have electronic or power assists, etc.
We don't know if the cops suggested any of these things to Mr Kaushal and, at that age, he should have known the steps anyway. They had eight and a half minutes to review the situation so it's mystifying why they could not get the car stopped.
The assumption is the story is true since it was reported in Fox News and credited to The Guardian. Neither typically presents anything which will ever have any evidentiary value in a courtroom and tabloid stories like this one won't help that much. In any case, if the story is true then how is it possible.
1 comment:
Not feeling the turning off the ignition as that will lock the steering. If he is smart enough to tap the brakes, turning thr ignition back on to resume control is probably outside his ability also
Post a Comment