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PermalinkWednesday, March 10, 2010
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Experts Say Shift To Neutral If Your Car Runs Away
Aired 3/10/10
We don't yet know why a Toyota Prius accelerated out of control in San Diego on Monday. But auto safety experts say they do know what drivers should do if it ever happens to them. Shift into neutral.
SAN DIEGO — We don't yet know why a Toyota Prius accelerated out of control on Interstate 8 in San Diego on Monday, but auto safety experts say they do know what drivers should do if it ever happens to them. Shift into neutral.
Above: The gear shift in a Toyota Prius. Auto safety experts recommend shifting into neutral if a car begins accelerating out of control.
Prius owner James Sikes was told by a 911 dispatcher and a highway patrol officer to shift into neutral gear as his Prius sped out of control. But Jake Fisher, an automotive engineer for Consumer Reports, said the Toyota hybrid has a pretty funny shifter.
Neutral can be hard to find for those who never use the gear. Nonetheless, Fisher said the tests he has done on cars show that all engines, be they hybrid or conventional, become disengaged from the drive line when they are put into neutral.
"No matter what the situation or what the car was," he said, "if you just put the car into neutral you can safely and easily stop the vehicle."
Fisher says people who own Toyotas, or any other car, should find a safe place and practice putting their cars into neutral as they drive.
Comments
ajustlaw | March 10, 2010 at 4:13 p.m. ― 1 year, 11 months ago
It would be a good idea to practice putting your car into neutral while stopped before trying it while driving because it is very easy to put the car into reverse in the process . Putting the car into reverse while driving could damage the car or cause a loss of control
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