Safe Speed Forums

I have seen a large number of reports of accidents where the driver of an automatic has confused the accelerator with the brake, while trying to pull away, and shot through a shop window, or similar. Two recent cases of this locally have involved the car going off the road onto a beach and tragically killing people below (I think both the drivers were learners.)

Would it be good to have some kind of safeguard built into automatics to prevent this? Some ideas I have thought of involve:

1) Preventing D being selected when stationary unless the footbrake is being pressed.
2) Preventing any power being transmitted to the wheels if the handbrake is on.
3) Putting the pedals a bit further apart.

Obviously not a complete cure and won't prevent all accidents, but would these things be worth considering? Or would a better approach be to require all learners to pass their test in a manual before they can use an automatic?

I saw that one on the news recently where the learner went over the top of the car park by the beach and killed a child. Ryde wasn't it? Frankly the big safety failure there was a learner driver using a car unsupervised. I can't imagine how he confused the two, and IIRC the excuse was that his foot slipped off the brake and onto the throttle. Neither sound very likely. I haven't driven many autos but the ones I have have had very large brake pedals and regular sized throttle pedals. Still, I suppose it could happen, but I've heard similar reports involving manuals which suggests it's the drivers rather than the car.

Wouldn't have prevented the little boy being killed, but might prevent some others where the driver has forgotten that the car will move unless braked in D. As fly-by-wire throttles and computers are further integrated into new cars it might be quite easy to do this.

Again, wouldn't have prevented that fatal accident since (IIRC) the driver was in the process of parking and would not yet have had the handbrake on. Still a good idea IMO. How about the handbrake acting as a transmission brake similar to P but acting on the shaft like on old Land Rovers? It might put the idea of transmission damage into people's heads and make them think a bit more about what they're doing. Also stops the chavs doing handbrake turns. Not sure how easy it would be to put on FWD cars though. Probably back to electronics there.

Sounds a little too obvious. Would that encourage left foot braking? I know at least one auto driver who does that, and he's a very good driver so it doesn't really worry me. But if we're concerned with the sort of drivers who can get the pedals mixed up is it a good idea?

I think there are some who go for the auto only licence because they can't get the hang of gears. Forcing them to learn a manual first could effectively prevent them driving, and anyway, are they any less likely to hit the wrong pedal in a manual? Seems to me that there's three pedals there to confuse them instead of only two.

Going back to that particular accident, I can't think of anything that could be fitted on the car that would definitely have prevented it. If someone is going nose first into a parking space and hits the gas instead of the brake at the last minute... well, you have to hope there's going to be a physical barrier to prevent the situation getting worse. I think they're planning to build one now at that particular car park.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

In fact, most recent automatics do require you to have your foot on the brake before selecting any gears.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Perhaps a better one would be a steering wheel button that one needs to press before throttle engages - a bit like the button on a lawnmower interlocking the trigger. With fly-by-wire throttles this is very feasible and should only be interlocked to starting from rest. Once going the button should not be required.

This is mandatory in the US and japan.

Also the car has to be put into park, locking the transmission before you can take the ignition keys out.

Autos are great, so long as you have got a decent amount of power.

The only problem I have ever had was the first time I ever drove an aoto a few years back where I hot the brake pedal thinking it was a clutch to change from first to second......the car had stopped by the time i figured out what had happened. The car behind was not happy....doh!

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Speed camera policy Kills

And then after driving one for a while you get back into a manual and forget to press the clutch when stopping!

I keep kicking the floor with my left foot myself. And I made a hash of reversing first time in an auto. Without a clutch to help control speed I must have looked like I'd never backed a car out of a drive before.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Would it not be better to have a separate test for each class of vehicle, so an automatic test only entitles you to drive automatics (as at present), but a manual test only entitles you to drive manuals.

I suspect many of the accidents we hear about result from people who have driven manuals for many years and converted to automatics in later life without receiving any specific tuition.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Not any more, I try and keep my left foot well away from the pedals. Only ever one it once. I do about 5-10K per year in rentals in the US. never done it since.

The biggest problem is remembering to de-clutch when I get back to my manual in the Airport car park.........

A bit OTT I think. what about a robotised manual or tiptronic.

Personaly I love autos (Front engine rear wheel drive) if you have got enough power. You can do things you just cannot do in a manual..........

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Speed camera policy Kills

???

Kickdown?

Select 'park' at 90mph?

Drive with a broken left leg?

Can you do anything useful in an auto that you can't do in a manual?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

With an auto the torque converter is a torque multiplier. Much better for towing, especialy if you have got a race car on a trailer.

On the "fun" side, try shifting into drive when you have got some revs on, you get a great launch, especialy on a limited slip. The best one though is thr static burn-out. One foot on the brake and one foot on the throttle. The front brakes hold the car stationary while the torque overcomes the back brakes and you can smoke the tyres. Best carried out on a rental car...don't try this at home kids...

btw selecting park at 90 dosen't work. shifting into reverse at 10mph forward speed does though.

p.s. I never said "useful".........

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Speed camera policy Kills

A suggestion guys:

'Never lend Gizmo your automatic car, or any car for that matter!'

Best wishes all,
Dave.

Don't know what you mean........

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Speed camera policy Kills

The best thing about autos is the ease of parking (using the creep) and the lack of aggravation in traffic driving.

Being a "sporty" driver, I always thought that they were useless - until I got a good auto box. The latest types which respond to your inputs and have manual override are excellent.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

never driven a selespeed then?.. or sillyspeed as we like to call them

Why do we sometimes have the red X instead of an actual picture. How do I get to see what the picture is about?

Best wishes all,
Dave - computer numpty.

i've also had the following scenario in an auto:
constant throttle in a corner (FWD)
kick down
severe understeer
which left me giving the tyre wall at mira a glancing blow.

this was cornering already close to the tyre's limits so hopefully not a situation anyone should be getting even close to on the public road.

but another one to add to my anti-auto list

The biggest mistake you can make is to drive an auto like you drive a manual. The throttle is much more critical and has a much more significant effect on the control of the car, you don't need to nail the throttle whenever you need to accelerate. The latest throttle-by-wire systems have a spring loaded button under the pedal that lets you feel when you are in kick-down mode.

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Speed camera policy Kills

Its a link to a picture that worked when i did it but is now not available...sorry.

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Speed camera policy Kills

in a manual i wouldn't have changed gear
i didn't ask it to
i had no warning it was going to