Runaway BMW idiot driver

codprawn · 11 March 2006, 13:34

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Just listend to this audio about a bloke whos BMW accelerator jammed - car was getting up to 135mph on the A1 - he had to drive on the hard shoulder for miles. He phoned the Police and they called out the helicopter etc.

He reckoned the car wouldn't go into neutral and the pedal was jammed to the floor. He also reckoned that the brakes were managing to slow him to about 70mph but were then smoking!!! he travelled about 60miles. He ended up crashing into a roundabout.

Never heard such bollocks in my life - when the woman reporter asked him why he didn't just turn the engine off he said it was because he would have lost all control including the power steering!!!

Now surely even with modern over the top electronics on BMWs you will still have steering with the engine switched off??? Unfortuantely it didn't say which BMW it was.

They even had a woman racing driver??? on who said he did all the right things - she said it wasn't a good idea to turn off the engine because you would have no power steering!!!

Has the world gone mad????

John Kennett · 11 March 2006, 13:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

Has the world gone mad????

It would seem so.

Defies belief! Sounds like BS to me . . .

John

ADS · 11 March 2006, 13:40

That link doesn't work but you can launch the player by clicking on the link to the story, bottom right hand corner.
Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but looks interesting, not sure how the pedal could get stuck down apart from the carpet. We had a beemer 330d for 3yrs (excellent car) and the accelerator was an interesting design, may have been drive by wire, not sure how it could have got stuck down.

Alex

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4796264.stm

codprawn · 11 March 2006, 13:45

Just fixed link to main page.

What amazed me was the advice given not to turn the engine off because you would lose control. Also no matter what vehicle it is the brakes are more powerful than the engine!!!

ADS · 11 March 2006, 15:02

In this main news article: BBC News,

It states the car as a 98R BMW 318 Auto, whilst a nice car its hardly the top of the BMW tree and I very much doubt it was fitted with the latest electronics, whislt it may have had Power steering im sure im certain that you could still steer (whilst moving) as long as the ignition was on to disable the steering lock. I very much doubt this car had any form of electronic braking assistance being a low end model and the old shape 3 series. Finally, parkers guide quotes the top speed of this model as 124MPH, 135MPH is absolute rubbish.

Alex

98R BMW 318 auto parkers guide

Jimbob · 11 March 2006, 15:51

i would wait for the technical findings

If i was in trouble i am not sure i would switch off the ignition, just like that, it is very hard to steer in a PAS car, go try it somewhere like an airfield.

Hugh Jardon · 11 March 2006, 16:51

if it was a 318 auto then i am sure that stomping on the brakes would stop it as that engine would not pull the skin off a rice pudding. smoking brakes would be fine it is just when they fade that care is needed.

next time you are driving stick your foot to the floor then put the brakes on full and see what happens.

i for one would have used brakes and hand brake, then turned the ignition off when slow enough and safe enough

Jimbob · 11 March 2006, 17:37

i the mail, i think it says the breaks failed as well

tcwozere · 11 March 2006, 18:09

Didn't this happen with a truck driver 3-4 yrs ago on the M11? Fairly sure he was later prosecuted, and was found to suffer from Munchausen's syndrome..

Nate · 11 March 2006, 18:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcwozere

Didn't this happen with a truck driver 3-4 yrs ago on the M11? Fairly sure he was later prosecuted, and was found to suffer from Munchausen's syndrome..

Absolutely correct - nutter was praised by Plod at the time for keeping calm in a crisis, problem turned out to be all in his head tho...

Didn't think you'd get 135mph out of a 318 - used to be hard enough getting that out of my old 535 Sport!

Jackwabbit · 11 March 2006, 19:23

As far as I know cars with power steering can still be steered without any power or fluid, although it’s very heavy. My brother last week lost all the fluid out of his power steering when a pipe burst, he managed to still drive the car home (although his mussels were popping) & most power assisted brakes will work providing you can use both feet.
If you want exciting you want to try a Citroen when it looses all its power fluid as you approach a roundabout at 70mph, extremely heavy steering no brakes (apart from the handbrake) & the suspension drops down onto rubber blocks which gets your eyes bouncing around so much you can’t focus on anything.

Lawrence · 11 March 2006, 20:42

What a total wanker.

Choice of either travelling at "135mph" for miles risking death and destruction for all or one turn of the ignition key and coast to a halt with heavy steering. Not a hard decision to make.

Cars with PAS can still be steered if the engine cuts off, although the steering becomes very heavy. I would have thought it would be an instinctive reaction to switch off immediately.

Richard B · 11 March 2006, 21:05

Power assisted steering has most effect at low speeds. At higher speeds, it's easy to steer without it. Austin Montegos used to suffer from PAS failure and were safe, but difficult to drive.

UK supplied Ford Explorers used to suffer from the same problem as this BMW - throttle jammed wide open. There are a number of recorded similar accidents involving Explorers, the least serious being those where the driver had the presence of mind to switch the engine off.

I wouldn't hesitate to turn the engine off in such a situation, but make sure to turn the key one notch only, otherwise the steering lock may engage!

The A1 at Thirsk is straight, dead straight.

What a nob jockey.

codprawn · 11 March 2006, 22:04

Couldn't agree more - but it's not so much the bloke I am getting at - it's the idiot reporters - the police who advised him and the so called racing driver woman who all said that you would lose control of the steering. as richard says it is only at low speeds - you probably wouldn't even notice if the power steering failed at 70mph!!!

Andy Stevens · 11 March 2006, 22:05

He needs to drive my Land Rover!

What a dick. Turn the ingnition and coast to a stop. Non brainer.

Jonny Fuller · 11 March 2006, 23:16

Power steering or not, you wouldn't exactly need to fight with the wheel all that much on a motorway hard shoulder, it's hardly 'taking the back doubles' is it!

sounds like a load of bollix.

Jono · 12 March 2006, 09:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard B

UK supplied Ford Explorers used to suffer from the same problem as this BMW - throttle jammed wide open. There are a number of recorded similar accidents involving Explorers, the least serious being those where the driver had the presence of mind to switch the engine off....
.

Yeah I bought one of those..

The throttle jammed when I was pulling out onto a large "roundabout" fairly swiftly and then have to slow for traffic lights on the island... only to find the b*****d thing surging forward when I lifted off... quite frightening for a second or two till you realise whats happened... then heavy application of brakes and kill the ignition.. job done...

I think a chap in Bristol ended up brown bread in the same circumstances

tcwozere · 19 June 2006, 14:36

bump..

Nos4r2 · 19 June 2006, 14:58

What a surprise.

jyasaki · 21 June 2006, 18:49

Hmmm. Okay, so 135 mph, brakes to 70; afraid to turn off the engine for fear of losing steering and crashing. So instead he continues at 70 and crashes anyway? Kind of a losing proposition here, isn't it? At least he could have slowed more with possibly dodgy steering before hitting something...

Go figure.

jky