Stuck Throttle: What I Would Do

With all the news about unintended acceleration of various Toyota vehicles, here’s what I’d do if it happened to me [Disclaimer: I’m not liable for anything that may arise out of using this advice].

I believe the majority of the Toyotas subject to recall in the US for unintended acceleration are equipped with automatic transmissions. So as a practical matter, if the throttle stuck I’d first push the shift lever into neutral. Then I’d pull over to a safe spot and turn the engine off.

If going into neutral doesn’t work (I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t) I’d turn the engine off, but leave the key in the “on” or “accessory” position if possible. This reduce the likelihood that steering effort would affected. Of course, this assumes the car has a regular key and not a newfangled remote starter.

If all else failed I’d throw the car into park or reverse, which would destroy the transmission and possibly the engine. But at that point there isn’t any better alternative.

For cars with manual transmissions, it’s just a matter of pressing the clutch to disconnect power to the drive wheels and moving the shift lever to neutral. Then I’d pull over and cut the engine.

While this is a serious problem, based on some of the reports/descriptions about the fatal crashes it appears the driver panicked and did not recognize the problem quickly. An ounce of prevention can go a long way.