Drivers, cars are ill-equipped when panic sets in

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writer Dee-ann Durbin, Ap Auto Writer – Tue Feb 9, 12:09 am ET

There are options: Put the car in neutral, or in park, or switch off the ignition. But experts say those choices would be almost impossible for most drivers to consider when they‘re in a panic, because frightened people often can‘t remember even simple steps to protect themselves. That — coupled with increasingly complicated gadgetry — makes cars a dangerous place to be when you‘re facing an unexpected situation.

Toyota Motor Corp. recently recalled 5 million vehicles because of reports of unintended acceleration, and it‘s changing the gas pedals to prevent floor mats from jamming them. But complaints about unwanted acceleration in Toyota vehicles go back at least to 2003, according to U.S. government filings.

It‘s not known what exact steps the officer took in that case, but Dunlop said in such a situation, the brain can‘t handle all the information it‘s getting.

Venkat Thannir had his own brush with panic a few months ago. The 48-year-old college instructor from South Carolina was pulling his 2010 Toyota Camry out of a Burger King parking lot when it sped up without warning. He panicked for several seconds before pushing hard on the brake pedal and stopping the car.

Thannir never figured out exactly what happened, but believes the pedal was defective, since he considers himself a safe driver. He got the gas pedal repaired last Saturday, and says he feels safe driving the vehicle for now.

Consumer Reports has criticized Toyota for the push-button ignition in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, which requires drivers to hold down the button for three seconds to turn off the vehicle in an emergency. Drivers of Cadillacs, Nissans and Infinitis can shut off the engines by pushing the button more than once.

Green said there‘s also been little research into the way safety features are laid out in the car. Is it easy to reach down and put the car in neutral? Should neutral be in a different order on the shifter so it‘s faster or easier to act? With push buttons, he said, one of the biggest concerns was whether children would be able to reach over and press them, not whether they were intuitive for drivers to use in an emergency.

"Can you conceive of a person reading all this stuff and remembering all of it?" he said.

"It‘s most helpful for a person, when you do go into panic mode, to resort to a natural tendency," he said.

"If you practice something over and over, that will be the thing that happens."



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