Steve writes...
>What was interesting to me is that this is a media event. My Eagle Talon
>was recalled in 1996 for a sticking throttle and nothing was said. Guess
>it isn't any fun scaring anyone if it's a small segment of the popul
Steve, the problem is with the shear amount of cars affected. The entire
Eagle marquee, didn't SELL as many vehicles that is affected by this
single recall. (It is the largest single recall ever in US history.)
It is a serious problem. Most "normal" people could figure out to hit the
brakes, and shift into neutral. But most drivers aren't "normal!"
Remember, we are NOT representative of the average car driving public.
When I was a cop, back in the early nineties, we had a driver of a VW
(Golf I believe) who's linkage broke and forced the car into full
throttle. She called 911 as she was speeding down a major highway (Rt 78)
She covered most of the state as the Troopers and local PD's tried to
clear a path for her. The hope was that she would be able to shift it
into neutral (for some reason it was jammed.) The brakes lasted about 10
minutes and were completely gone (but were only able to slow the car down
for that time. As she approached the NYC border, things were tense. She
had a half tank of gas left, and there was nothing left to try.
She swerved into the grassy median at over 100 MPH. The car was totally
ripped apart. Due to all the safety features of the car's body, she
survived but with injuries. The car was unrecognizable after the
accident.
Three things saved her that night. The cell phone, the fact that it was
late (and almost no traffic on the road), and the safety design of that
car.
The investigation showed it was a problem with the linkage that forced the
car in full throttle and prevented the A/T from being shifted in neutral.
One thing that I remember during the AAR, was that if we would have let
her intentionally hit a police car from behind, and the lead car try to
stop, it might have worked. BUT, the police department would have been
liable for ALL injuries she sustained. By letting her run off the road,
the police departments weren't liable. Now you know why I hate the fact
that Americans are so litigious. This wasn't a decision that was made
that night, but it was investigated and became policy for situations like
this.
Moose
"Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational
being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph
Waldo Emerson
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