MO woman goes 59 miles @ 110MPH because of 'stuck' gas pedal

[Executor32]

Stuck accelerator takes woman on ride over 110 mph

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Iowa woman whose accelerator got stuck as she drove up Interstate 35 in Missouri managed to control the vehicle even as speeds topped 110 mph and she was forced to the median several times to avoid other drivers, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Patrol spokesman Sheldon Lyon praised Lauri Ulvestad, 47, of Ames, Iowa, for not crashing her 2011 Kia Sorento as she weaved through traffic and a construction zone with no way to slow down.

"Not only to drive fast, but to go into the median, pull back up into the passing lane and hit that asphalt lip — and not overcorrect — it was really amazing to see her do that repeatedly," Lyon said.

Ulvestad was driving north on the interstate near Bethany, Mo., on Sunday when she realized her accelerator was stuck. Panicked, she called 911 and soon two state troopers caught up with her. One pulled in front of her to alert traffic ahead, while the other stayed behind her.

Lyon said the three cars covered 59 miles in 35 minutes before the woman's vehicle suddenly slowed and came to a stop on the inside shoulder near Osceola, Iowa, about 40 miles north of the state line.

Ulvestad told KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa, that as she passed Osceola she was told to lift up the accelerator and push on the brake.

"And so I did that, and it slammed me from 119 mph to like nothing," she said.

Lyon said Ulvestad had attempted everything the 911 operator — who was in constant contact with the Highway Patrol's headquarters in Jefferson City — told her to do, including trying to shift the vehicle into neutral. The vehicle had a "proximity key," Lyon said, which allows someone to start the car without a real key when they're close enough to it.

"There was some talk about if she threw the key fob out the window, would the car shut off," Lyon said. "We're trying to look at that so in the future, if this comes up again, we'll have more experience with the key fob or proximity key."

A Kia spokesman said the car company planned to issue a statement later Friday.

While he praised Ulvestad's driving and the efforts of the troopers, Lyon said he was disappointed in the drivers who stayed in the left lane of the interstate and didn't immediately move over when the patrol cars came up behind them.

"Every close call was caused by people who wouldn't get out of the way for the lights and sirens," he said. "They ended up with near misses several times."

I'd bet $100 that, in her panicked state, she was hitting the gas instead of the brake. What cinches it for me is the fact that she only got it stopped after lifting the gas pedal with one foot and hitting the brakes with the other, when even a supercar can be stopped by its own brakes when at full throttle.

[Isolder74]

Why didn't she try turning the car off?

[Lancer]

Why didn't she try turning the car off?

Discussed in the article; it's one of those remote-start key fobs so there's no physical key in the ignition to pull out.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Why didn't she try turning the car off?

Because even in my nineteen-year-old car, you cannot turn the ignition off if the transmission is not in Park.

[Isolder74]

So cars no longer have Neutral anymore? I'm sorry but several options seems to have been forgotten here.

[Executor32]

According to the article, she tried putting it in neutral. Evidently, she didn't try very hard, because every car I have ever driven, from my dear departed 1990 Buick Regal to my grandma's 2007 Grand Caravan, has been able to shift into neutral while in motion with little effort.

[Stark]

It's pretty clear she was panicked and not thinking clearly. I'm curious how much she simply decided she tried afterwards.

[Themightytom]

She was driving well enough to impress the police, but wasn't thinking clearly enough to shift into neutral or stop pressing the accelerator? Really guys?

[Jub]

Shouldn't this be grounds for serious dangerous driving charges? It's not like this whole stuck pedal thing hasn't been shown to be driver error many times over by now.

[Stark]

It's not surprising; steering away from collisions is pretty basic stuff, and it was a highway. If she panicked, she would have been unable to think clearly enough about (say) which pedal she was holding down. You can be irrational and still avoid driving up someone's ass.

[Executor32]

She was driving well enough to impress the police, but wasn't thinking clearly enough to shift into neutral or stop pressing the accelerator? Really guys?

Yes, really. Do you have any idea how many times this sort of thing has happened before, and the cause was driver error rather than an actual problem with the car? Or, similarly, how many times someone has pulled up to a storefront, only to accelerate and smash through it because they hit the gas instead of the brake? The average driver is a fucking idiot, so I don't give them the benefit of the doubt in cases like this; I start with the assumption that they fucked up and proceed from there.

[Stark]

And once someone panics, they can not even know their foot is jammed on a pedal, or be thinking logically enough to connect that to their speed. It's no worse than people being really scared and forgetting their front door opens outward.

[TheFeniX]

Why didn't she try turning the car off?

Because even in my nineteen-year-old car, you cannot turn the ignition off if the transmission is not in Park.

I've owned 6 cars and for some dumb reason, about once out of every 20-30 stops, I turn the ignition off when I park and find I can't get the key to "off/release" even though I've killed the motor. It's because for some reason, I left the transmission in "Drive." Of those 6 vehicles, every one of them had a "lock" on the the ignition that won't let you fully get it turned to "off" without the car being in "Park," but you can still shut the motor off. I used to have a buddy that, for grins, would turn his lights, throw his car into neutral, and kill the engine to, and I quote "get a feel for the road." I didn't ride with him much.

The easier explanation is that should couldn't turn the ignition off because of.... technology!

I'm just glad she didn't pull the parking break to try and stop. She may not have survived the spin-out at that speed. But there's no reason a solid slamming of the brake pedal won't stop any vehicle (and with anti-lock brakes and a dry road, it should be a clean stop, if not tire destroying), even with the accelerator pegged. She likely just panicked.

[PeZook]

She was driving well enough to impress the police, but wasn't thinking clearly enough to shift into neutral or stop pressing the accelerator? Really guys?

There existed people who managed to operate armored fighting vehicles in combat, but couldn't get out afterwards because they forgot which way the hatch opened.

It happens all the time in stressful situations. Why do you think people during disasters or mass shootings so often call their spouses and tell them to call 911? Driving is just muscle memory and reflexes, troubleshooting problems requires fine motor control and/or reasoned thinking.

[Terralthra]

Why didn't she try turning the car off?

Because even in my nineteen-year-old car, you cannot turn the ignition off if the transmission is not in Park.

That seems pretty unlikely. I've never been in a car where you couldn't kill the engine no matter what gear it is in.

[Alyeska]

My van had an issue with uncontrolable acceleration. Foot off the gas and it would slowly accelerate. The problem was with the cruise control. It got stuck accelerating my car. Normally hitting the brakes killed cruise, but that didn't happen with this problem. I couldn't even turn cruise off.

The section of road I was on had a lot of turns. So turning off the key was not an option since it would lock my steering. I tried shifting into third, no change in engine and acceleration. Didn't consider neutral. But my brakes worked. So when a passing lane came up I jammed my foot on the brakes and fought the accelerator until I was down to 25 and then I turned the key and shut it off. Braking against an accelerator isnt fun. Turned the engine back on and the problem went away. I stopped by the mechanic and found out my cruise control cable had partially broken and that cause the issue.

This lady probably had a mechanical failure that caused the acceleration. And with panic on top she could not think of ways to stop the car without calling 911.

[Jub]

My van had an issue with uncontrolable acceleration. Foot off the gas and it would slowly accelerate. The problem was with the cruise control. It got stuck accelerating my car. Normally hitting the brakes killed cruise, but that didn't happen with this problem. I couldn't even turn cruise off.

The section of road I was on had a lot of turns. So turning off the key was not an option since it would lock my steering. I tried shifting into third, no change in engine and acceleration. Didn't consider neutral. But my brakes worked. So when a passing lane came up I jammed my foot on the brakes and fought the accelerator until I was down to 25 and then I turned the key and shut it off. Braking against an accelerator isnt fun. Turned the engine back on and the problem went away. I stopped by the mechanic and found out my cruise control cable had partially broken and that cause the issue.

This lady probably had a mechanical failure that caused the acceleration. And with panic on top she could not think of ways to stop the car without calling 911.

The thing is, mechanical failure is far less likely than driver error in these cases. Also, if you can't control yourself well enough while driving to deal with issues, you shouldn't be driving. Hitting the breaks isn't rocket science and even a panicked person should be able to manage that much if they're to be on the road.

[Broomstick]

Had the throttle cable get stuck in my truck once. It wasn't "run away" acceleration but when I took my foot off the pedal it wouldn't slow down. I threw the truck into neutral, engaged the brake, pulled off the road, and shut down. OK, great, but I have to say it was scary even though I know what to do and I wasn't going that fast. How to handle that situation is not something that was ever covered in driver's ed. I'd say most drivers in the US wouldn't know how to deal with that sort of situation. Yes, it good be the woman was a doofus and fucked up. Or it could be a mechanical problem she didn't know how to deal with. Either way, thank goodness she was able to call someone who could talk her through the situation and help her find a solution and no one got hurt.

[Zaune]

Someone also told me once that cars fitted with ABS braking systems tend to lose most if not all brake response if the engine isn't running. I don't know if this is true or not, but it would certainly make me think twice about just turning off the ignition unless I was in the outside lane and had a hard shoulder or a big empty field to swerve into.

[Broomstick]

Tested that once in my truck, which has ABS. I didn't detect an appreciable difference.

Now, when the rear brake line broke, THAT made a huge difference in braking authority, but that's a different story.

[Jub]

I'd say most drivers in the US wouldn't know how to deal with that sort of situation.

Most drivers don't know that brakes slow down or stop their vehicle? What exactly does drivers ed teach if it doesn't even tell you what the brakes do?

[Dark Hellion]

Jub, you seem to not be getting the whole human brain doesn't work that well under stress thing. Even people trained to deal with stressful situations can make extremely silly mistakes when they panic, let alone a woman who probably only knows basic operation procedures for her car.

[Jub]

Jub, you seem to not be getting the whole human brain doesn't work that well under stress thing. Even people trained to deal with stressful situations can make extremely silly mistakes when they panic, let alone a woman who probably only knows basic operation procedures for her car.

That's true, but, and I know it's anecdotal, when I was nearly in a major accident on my bike I didn't freak out and crash or feel a need to call the police. I slammed on the breaks and hoped like hell I would stop in time. How is that any different than doing the same thing in a runaway car and does doing that make me some bike expert who knows far more than the basics of how to ride a bike?

Honestly, it seems like most people are morons who shouldn't be driving. I wonder how many lives would be saved if the law saw things the same way...

[kc8tbe]

Why didn't she try turning the car off?

Because even in my nineteen-year-old car, you cannot turn the ignition off if the transmission is not in Park.

That seems pretty unlikely. I've never been in a car where you couldn't kill the engine no matter what gear it is in.

I own a 1999 Chrysler Sebring JX. I can turn off the engine with the car in drive, but I cannot remove the key until the car is in park.

[Dominus Atheos]

Had the throttle cable get stuck in my truck once. It wasn't "run away" acceleration but when I took my foot off the pedal it wouldn't slow down. I threw the truck into neutral, engaged the brake, pulled off the road, and shut down. OK, great, but I have to say it was scary even though I know what to do and I wasn't going that fast. How to handle that situation is not something that was ever covered in driver's ed. I'd say most drivers in the US wouldn't know how to deal with that sort of situation.

Almost the same thing happened to me, but the throttle cable got stuck when the pedal was almost to the floor. I just turned the engine off and pulled to the side of the road without power steering or power braking, which was only moderately difficult.

I always get skeptical whenever people say "I couldn't turn my car off" or "I couldn't shift into neutral", and especially "I had the brake pedal held down all the way but the car just kept going faster" as that should be completely impossible.

And sudden acceleration was covered in my driver's ed class, although not in actual practice.