Poor Toyota

Try the experiment and report back whether you can turn the key off while car is in motion.
SOme cars have an interlock and I dont know why. Ill try on my Escape.

My Toyota and my Honda both shut down when I turn the key to off with them in drive as after the story I did check that farmerman right after hearing the 911 call broadcast on TV.

And if some Toyota cars would not do so then changing that in a recall would made far more sense then the floor mat or the gas pedal.

Good try but no cigar for you.

I didn't know this, but it is probably an attempt to prevent the key being removed while the car is in motion. Removal of key results in the steering wheel being locked in position on all current models that I know of.

Not having followed the original issue, is it possible some guy was roaring down the road at 120mph, while calling 911 with a question on how to stop the car?

I also wonder why he didn't shift into neutral.

is it possible some guy was roaring down the road at 120mph, while calling 911 with a question on how to stop the car?
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Yes it sure is possible in fact there was one case of a woman calling 911 as her car was sinking after running off the road into some body of water.

The 911 operator was suggesting to her not to wait for help but to get off the phone and try to get out of the car however she ended up drowning.

The car, a Lexus, didn't have a key. It had a button. That button must be held down for several seconds to turn off the engine.

The larger problem is that the brakes cannot overpower the engine. The engine computer also processes acceleration and brake signals even when the two are encountered simultaneously. Most vehicles will ignore an acceleration signal when the brake is pressed.

Removal of key results in the steering wheel being locked in position on all current models that I know of.
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Oh to shut the engine off you need but to turn the key one position to the left you do not need to remove it and I do not think in drive you can removed the key but you do not need to do so to shut the engine off.

A button instead of a key?

Still holding down the button will end up shutting down the engine correct?

I can not see any engineer ever born designing a car otherwise and as someone else stated he could had remove the car from being in gear also.

Even given this was the first day he drove this car and did not know how to shut the engine off taking it out of gear should be possible.

Also, turning off the engine disables the power steering and power braking. That would be very dangerous at highway speeds.

Damn good suggestion, if you ask me.

I agree, taking it out of gear would have been the absolute best answer to this situation.

Well yes you would indeed lost power steering however allowing the car to go a 120 MPH out of control is a slightly more important matter then lossing power steering!!!!!!!!!!The brakes are a non-issue as he had burned them out having them fight the engine.

Second this was not some small woman but a man and cars are indeed design to steer without power even if you do need to man handle them.

Most of us done so I am sure.

Put it in neutral, apply emergency break

or if you are in a standard, down shift. Even witht the pedal floored, each gear will only go so fast..


however..
how is this man a fool?

I do have a question does anyone know if modern cars will allow you to down shift at high RPMs when to do so will harm the transmission?

If memory served me correctly in a Mythbuster episode they could not get a car to go into either reverse or park when it was moving forward but they did not cover down shifting at a high rate of speed.

They will always allow you to shift to neutral.

Some modern cars have a lockout feature so you cannot downshift if going too fast. In any event, you would probably crash the car if you did this because you would probably lock the wheels. Shifting to neutral should be the only answer.

however..
how is this man a fool?
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Let me count the ways for you.

First down shifting is the first thing I would do and the second would be turning off the engine and even in a auto-transmission car you should be able to down shift and or place the car in neutral at least.

Hell even picking a place to run off the road would be better then killing others along with you and your passengers and could even give you a slightly higher chance of survival then running into another car,

The last thing I would do is call 911 as what the hell could a 911 operator do for me?

In flying they drill into you that your first task is to fly the plane communicating is a secondary matter in fact everything other then flying the plane is a secondary concern. In flying the plane they mean keeping it or getting it back under control.

They could have the police clear the way ahead. They could have the police guide you to a rolling stop.

On the other hand, they spend a lot more time training pilots than they do training drivers.