runaway Lexus ES 350

[thescreensavers]

911 call(uncensored)

CHULA VISTA - A Highway Patrol officer, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law -- all killed in a fiery crash in Santee -- will be remembered at a memorial service Saturday in Chula Vista.

Mark Saylor and his wife Cleofe, both 45, their 13-year-old daughter Mahala and 38-year-old brother-in-law Chris Lastrella were killed in the crash at 6:35 p.m. Aug. 28 at the end of state Route 125 at Mission Gorge Road.

The officer was off-duty at the time of the crash.

They were in a 2009 Lexus loaned by Bob Baker Lexus in El Cajon while their vehicle was being serviced, authorities said. One of the occupants, believed to be Cleofe Saylor, called 911 to report the accelerator in the loaner vehicle was stuck.

Witnesses said the car was going more than 100 mph shortly before the crash.

The car collided with an SUV waiting to turn left at the end of Highway125, and continued across Mission Gorge Road, crashed through a fence and ended up on fire in the bed of the San Diego River.

All four victims died at the scene.

A public Celebration of Life will be held at 2:30 p.m. at Calvary Chapel, 1771 E. Palomar St., Chula Vista, CHP Officer Brad Baehr said.

A viewing will be held from 2 p.m. to about 8:30 p.m., Baehr said.

The family welcomes participation by the public and CHP, but law enforcement officers are asked to wear civilian clothes, according to Baehr.

Link to artical

Here is a site that talks about more then just this incident and called it 'Unintentional Sudden Acceleration"

 

[ViviTheMage]

why was he doing 100

 

[olds]

article

 

[thescreensavers]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
why was he doing 100

.. your kidding me right?

 

[Sukhoi]

It's amazing people can't comprehend the idea of turning the car off if the accelerator is stuck.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
It's amazing people can't comprehend the idea of turning the car off if the accelerator is stuck.

This story is two weeks old so I don't recall the exact details but the Lexus starts with a button or something like that. It made it impossible to shut off.

 

[daniel1113]

Why wouldn't you put the car in neutral and slam on the e-brake? I assume this was an automatic transmission, but was the shifter broken or locked?

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
It's amazing people can't comprehend the idea of turning the car off if the accelerator is stuck.

This story is two weeks old so I don't recall the exact details but the Lexus starts with a button or something like that. It made it impossible to shut off.

This is one of the reasons I like driving a manual transmission. Even though it may not be true, I feel like I have more control over the car at any given time. Popping into neutral is "automatic" if you drive a car with a stick, whereas I don't think it's an automatic reaction for people that drive cars with automatic transmissions (I know it's not automatic for me when I'm operating one).

 

[Kntx]

That 911 call is spooky.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

What the fuck, what a bone head. Transmission in either first or neutral, handbrake up, problem solved even if you can't turn the engine off. So much fail, I feel really bad for the family but whoever was behind the wheel was going to die sooner rather than later if he's that stupid.

 

[senseamp]

The guy was a highway patrol officer. Just boggles the mind that he had no clue what to do. Get on the brakes, turn the engine off, drop wife out of the window and use her as anchor, even crash into a slower moving car to slow down.

 

[paulney]

Originally posted by: senseamp
The guy was a highway patrol officer. Just boggles the mind that he had no clue what to do. Get on the brakes, turn the engine off, drop wife out of the window and use her as anchor, even crash into a slower moving car to slow down.

I loled!

 

[thescreensavers]

yea, when I heard this story, I am like he can just put it into neutral but, he was panicking so who knows.

You cant turn off a push button start car while its moving, and the brakes and Accelerator is controlled by a computer which was malfunctioning so no brakes. but it I would try to hit the side wall hard enough for the airbags to go off, and to shut off the car. If nothing else worked.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: Kntx
That 911 call is spooky.

yeah, crazy.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: paulney

Originally posted by: senseamp
The guy was a highway patrol officer. Just boggles the mind that he had no clue what to do. Get on the brakes, turn the engine off, drop wife out of the window and use her as anchor, even crash into a slower moving car to slow down.

I loled!

Same

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
It's amazing people can't comprehend the idea of turning the car off if the accelerator is stuck.

This story is two weeks old so I don't recall the exact details but the Lexus starts with a button or something like that. It made it impossible to shut off.

Did it also make it impossible to shift into neutral?

 

[Parasitic]

The brakes apparently wouldn't work at the same time the accelerator pedal sticks, according to that link somebody provided earlier.

 

[senseamp]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
The brakes apparently wouldn't work at the same time the accelerator pedal sticks, according to that link somebody provided earlier.

So you can't brake torque a Lexus?

 

[Dr. Detroit]

No Chance you could shift in Reverse or Low gear and drop the trans?

Scary!

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

To those that said why not do this that or the other thing.

Unless you have previously run scenarios through your head more than once, you to would not know what to do.

I'd personally have ended up slamming it into a lower gear.

 

[thomsbrain]

I buy the floor mat explanation, especially from moron owners who don't know about or understand the purpose of the clips. That bullshit site someone posted was a joke. In the example audio clip, the guy wasn't even willing to consider the floor mats as a possibility. He said "there's no way a floor mat could push an accelerator." Are you fucking retarded? Ever picked up a floor mat before? They are heavy and stiff. When it creeps up on the gas and then you panic and start stomping around and push it up even farther, it will easily push the gas to the floor. That's why there are clips on the driver's side. If you neglect to use a safety feature of your vehicle, is the automaker at fault for your choice? That's like blaming the company for an airbag not firing when you pulled the fuse for it.

Of course, there are solutions:
Press the brake pedal.
Put the car in neutral or park.

A big problem that MANY drivers have is that they have NO CLUE how hard to press the brake pedal in a panic-stop situation. That's the reason so many companies have implemented brake assist systems, because even in the most dire situation many drivers won't use more than 50% of their car's capabilities.

There was a great quote in the last Car and Driver where a driving instructor said: "Most people, when faced with cornering beyond 0.4 g or hitting a tree, will choose the tree." I think that sums it up nicely.

 

[thomsbrain]

I love the bullshit poll on that site:

"Does Lexus know they have a sudden acceleration problem?"

Reminds me of the junior high joke: Do your parents know you're gay?

 

[zoiks]

Lexus quality is going downhill as it is. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a problem with the car.

 

[ultimatebob]

My old Audi A4 did this to me once... the "gas pedal position sensor" malfunctioned on it, causing the throttle to get stuck wide open while I was trying to pass someone on some back country road. If I didn't think quickly and throw the car into neutral, I would have probably ended up wrapping that thing around a tree doing 70+ MPH like this guy did.

The part that really pissed me off was that the car was only 1,000 miles past it's warranty, and my Audi dealer charged me $120 to fix it. Audi customer relations was useless when I brought this rather serious safety issue to their attention, too :|

 

[venkman]

Shens, we know that when that baby hit 88, it would go back in time.