
This Guy's Car Got Stuck at 125mph—for an Hour - leknarf
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/02/this-guys-car-got-stuck-at-125mph-for-an-hour/273140/
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adrianpike
I'm not entirely certain how this got dropped by the atlantic, but if you
click through to the Guardian, it mentions that the car was "adapted for
disabled drivers".

Assuming they mean some form of hand controls for gas & brakes, that's a
pretty damn important detail they left out.

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lutusp
And to think, during an hour of high drama, the driver could have simply
reached over, switched off the ignition key and ended the drama.

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anblick
or thrown it out of gear, or even used the handbrake to slow it a bit. Seems a
bit ridiculous that nobody in the emergency services thought of any of these
things ... something's not right.

From wikipedia:

> The Laguna featured a 'keyless' ignition system which, instead of a key,
> used a credit card style device to unlock the car and start the engine.

that might eliminate the first possibility: the car could be "clever" enough
to not allow cutting the ignition while it's at speed. There's also mention of
a model being shipped with a "proactive transmission", on which I can find
this description:

> flick-shift, six-speed, proactive transmission

I suppose flick-shift might also be routed through the computer so you don't
damage the machinery by attempting to put it into low gear or into park at
speed ... or into neutral, I guess.

Are vehicles really being approved without mechanical failsafes?

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joezydeco
The transmission sounds similar to the Steptronic or Tiptronic automatic
transmissions. You can shift up and down all day long with the paddles, but
you can't downshift into a gear that will redline the engine.

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malandrew
This is going to sound really obvious, but what about slowly applying the
emergency brake?

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helloamar
Oh my, he did the right thing to call the police, though the car was not in
control, he was in control.

