Jammed Accelerator…

Toyota has recalled many vehicles due to the risk of accelerator pedals becoming stuck or jammed.  This raises a very practical question- what should you do if the accelerator on your car is stuck?

The Head of road safety at the AA, Andrew Howard says that the most important thing to do is to stay calm and not do anything rash, and to remember that the brakes and the clutch will still work.

By following a few simple steps you can quickly bring the car to a stop, saving your own and other people’s lives says Stephen Mead, assistant chief examiner at the Institute of Advanced Motoring:

1) Firmly depress the foot brake. This will override the accelerator. Do not use the handbrake, it could cause the brake pads to burn out and potentially put the car into a spin.

2) Depress the clutch effectively stopping the engine from powering the car (for automatics put the gearstick in neutral).

3) Continue braking and look for a route to the side of the road, and steer there carefully.

But what happens if the accelerator isn’t the only faulty part of the car?

It is very unlikely these days that the brakes will fail, but in the event the brakes do completely fail, you can still help by depressing the clutch. It may be difficult at high speeds to put the car into a lower gear so Mr Mead suggests a very gentle use of the handbrake to slow the car.

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position where the clutch has failed as well as the accelerator and brakes Mr Mead advises to turn off the ignition but leave the key there to avoid the steering lock going on.