FROM A FACEBOOK EXCHANGE
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ABCDEF wants to know how you can be trapped in a runaway car with a stuck accelerator for 20 minutes. I would like to know if people are so stupid to not know that turning off the car will at least allow you to coast to a stop if the brakes are not working (icluding the emergency brake). Or is there some hidden part of the st…ories where the cars cannot be turned off? If there is… why hasn’t any media outlet said that?
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I “believe” (Medicine from Doctor Phil, Law from Judge Judy, and Politics from Glen Beck) that the stupid things do NOT respond to turning the key OFF. (Not to ACC or to the position that allows the key to be extracted and locks the steering.) The lame street Press has reported that there is SOME kind of a button, somewhere in the cabin, that can … See Morebe pushed for an “emergency stop”. (I’d have thought pushing the brake pedal would engage the brake. OH NO, dumm, there’s some SOFTWARE involved in the process. Are they out of their freakin’ minds. Nobody involved ever done “software” support.) Sigh.
P.S. In my Mom’s garage, sometimes people block me in. I used to move cars. Now, if it’s a Toyota, I call the attendant. :-) Discretion!
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I, and others, don’t think it’s that easy. From what I understand, admittedly just from what I read, software is allowed to over ride the operator stomping on the brake. I find that incredulous. But, evidently, this little gem has a software that has a mind of its own. I’ll play Sargent Shultz, who says “I know nuthin, Nuting, Nothing at all”! But, it may not be so clear cut. Just an opinion.
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GHIJKL: sorry , i’ve never known a car that doesn’t allow you to take it out of gear , and emergency breaks are a physical cable with 0 electronics in them ( thats sort of the point of them else they wouldn’t be able to pass inspection ) although i believe breaks could be disabled due to abs and you may not be able to turn off the engine , a gear box is a gear box , can ALWAYS put it in neutral even if you cant do park/reverse.
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Sorry, but I think we are ALL going to need to do a “software update”. A month ago, I’d have said the same thing. (Probably with a lot more sarcasm!) Without having gotten one of these gems and ripped it apart, the Main Stream Media — or Lamestream Media — has led me to believe that this is no longer true. The car has a significant software …
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[JR: I’ll continue to follow the reports.]
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UPDATE
Now it appears that there is some question about the authenticity and accuracy of these claims.
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Posted by reinkefj 
Reinke Faces Life 