Muppet BMW driver

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I

Ian Rawlings

Guest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm

Audio interview.

Driver's automatic beemer's accelerator gets stuck, so he drives for
60 miles at speeds of up to 130MPH before crashing into a roundabout.
During this he's on the phone to the police who scramble helicopters
and cars although it's not mentioned what they were supposed to be
doing.

He wouldn't turn the ignition off because he'd have "lost everything"
as it's got power steering... He used the brakes to hold it at 70MPH
but they burned out, it was stuck in neutral etc..

They've even got a (female) racing car driver on (but they didn't
think to get a mechanic on) who also says that turning off the
ignition would stop the steering working as "all cars have power
steering these days", what the feck is wrong with the world these
people are in???

I also doubt that jumping on the brakes wouldn't have stopped it
unless they were worn out, but using them to hold it at 70MPH would
certainly heat them up for a while, 30 secs or so later they'd have
worked again though.

Having driven several cars with failed power steering, and even driven
cars with failed brake servos, perhaps I'm some kind of superman? Or
just not a complete dolt.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
On 2006-03-11, Ian Rawlings <[email protected]> wrote:

> He wouldn't turn the ignition off because he'd have "lost
> everything" as it's got power steering... He used the brakes to
> hold it at 70MPH but they burned out, it was stuck in neutral etc..

Ooops, not stuck in neutral, that would have solved it!

Stuck in *gear*.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
....and Ian Rawlings spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...


> On 2006-03-11, Ian Rawlings <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> He wouldn't turn the ignition off because he'd have "lost
>> everything" as it's got power steering... He used the brakes to
>> hold it at 70MPH but they burned out, it was stuck in neutral etc..
>
> Ooops, not stuck in neutral, that would have solved it!
>
> Stuck in *gear*.

I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty of
straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off, hold car
steady until it stops. How hard is that? (To be fair, a PAS car without
power to the steering is blooming hard work, as the steering is normally
geared very high.)

I've never owned a Beemer, and perhaps thay are more powerful than a very
powerful thing, but I can't imagine any car I have ever driven that couldn't
be stalled, even with the gas full on, by a sufficiently determined
application of the middle pedal. Thinking of drying out brakes etc.

--
Rich
==============================

There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary
and those who don't.


 
Richard Brookman wrote:

> I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty of
> straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off, hold car
> steady until it stops. How hard is that? (To be fair, a PAS car without
> power to the steering is blooming hard work, as the steering is normally
> geared very high.)

Thje PAS pump is powered by the rotation of the engine, leave the
damned thing in gear, turn the ignition off and you STILL have PAS all
the way to stop.

Steve
 

"Ian Rawlings" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm
>
> Audio interview.
>
> Driver's automatic beemer's accelerator gets stuck, so he drives for
> 60 miles at speeds of up to 130MPH before crashing into a roundabout.
> During this he's on the phone to the police who scramble helicopters
> and cars although it's not mentioned what they were supposed to be
> doing.
>
> He wouldn't turn the ignition off because he'd have "lost everything"
> as it's got power steering... He used the brakes to hold it at 70MPH
> but they burned out, it was stuck in neutral etc..
>
> They've even got a (female) racing car driver on (but they didn't
> think to get a mechanic on) who also says that turning off the
> ignition would stop the steering working as "all cars have power
> steering these days", what the feck is wrong with the world these
> people are in???
>
> I also doubt that jumping on the brakes wouldn't have stopped it
> unless they were worn out, but using them to hold it at 70MPH would
> certainly heat them up for a while, 30 secs or so later they'd have
> worked again though.
>
> Having driven several cars with failed power steering, and even driven
> cars with failed brake servos, perhaps I'm some kind of superman? Or
> just not a complete dolt.
>
> --
> Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!


But what an excellent excuse when faced with wanting to speed and not being
able to do so legally; attention seeker ???


 
On 2006-03-11, Richard Brookman <[email protected]> wrote:

> I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty
> of straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off,
> hold car steady until it stops. How hard is that? (To be fair, a
> PAS car without power to the steering is blooming hard work, as the
> steering is normally geared very high.)

I've driven my landy and my audi without the PAS working, it's hard to
steer at low speeds but at higher speeds it's not that difficult. I'm
a weedy computer consultant too. Try hopping in the landy and
steering the wheel with the ignition off, it can be done and that's
the hardest it'll be to turn the wheel, even moving at less than
walking pace makes it far, far easier.

As for the brakes, he must have been using them throughout the journey
as I don't see how he could have driven the car at max throttle
without brakes for some 60 miles (or was it kilometres?). Just can't
have been using them enough. An A1 muppet, in more ways than one.

What also puzzles me is how come he wasn't told what to do when on the
phone to both the AA and the police, all very puzzling.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:39:27 +0000, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 2006-03-11, Richard Brookman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty
>> of straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off,
>> hold car steady until it stops. How hard is that? (To be fair, a
>> PAS car without power to the steering is blooming hard work, as the
>> steering is normally geared very high.)
>
>I've driven my landy and my audi without the PAS working, it's hard to
>steer at low speeds but at higher speeds it's not that difficult. I'm
>a weedy computer consultant too. Try hopping in the landy and
>steering the wheel with the ignition off, it can be done and that's
>the hardest it'll be to turn the wheel, even moving at less than
>walking pace makes it far, far easier.

When the power steering pump broke on my car, i drove it around for a
month or so without one - it was still easier to manouver than a 101
:)

 

"Hirsty's" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Ian Rawlings" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm
>>
>> Audio interview.
>>
>> Driver's automatic beemer's accelerator gets stuck, so he drives for
>> 60 miles at speeds of up to 130MPH before crashing into a roundabout.
>> During this he's on the phone to the police who scramble helicopters
>> and cars although it's not mentioned what they were supposed to be
>> doing.
>>
>> He wouldn't turn the ignition off because he'd have "lost everything"
>> as it's got power steering... He used the brakes to hold it at 70MPH
>> but they burned out, it was stuck in neutral etc..
>>
>> They've even got a (female) racing car driver on (but they didn't
>> think to get a mechanic on) who also says that turning off the
>> ignition would stop the steering working as "all cars have power
>> steering these days", what the feck is wrong with the world these
>> people are in???
>>
>> I also doubt that jumping on the brakes wouldn't have stopped it
>> unless they were worn out, but using them to hold it at 70MPH would
>> certainly heat them up for a while, 30 secs or so later they'd have
>> worked again though.
>>
>> Having driven several cars with failed power steering, and even driven
>> cars with failed brake servos, perhaps I'm some kind of superman? Or
>> just not a complete dolt.
>>
>> --
>> Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
>
>
> But what an excellent excuse when faced with wanting to speed and not
> being
> able to do so legally; attention seeker ???
>
>

That crossed my mind too.


 
On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:39:27 +0000, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 2006-03-11, Richard Brookman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty
>> of straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off,
>> hold car steady until it stops. How hard is that? (To be fair, a
>> PAS car without power to the steering is blooming hard work, as the
>> steering is normally geared very high.)
>
>I've driven my landy and my audi without the PAS working, it's hard to
>steer at low speeds but at higher speeds it's not that difficult. I'm
>a weedy computer consultant too.

Even with the heaviest vehicles, it is still perfectly possible to
steer without the help of PAS. I've had it pack up on fully laden
double decker buses (about 15tonnes all-up) and when moving above
20mph you wouldn't notice the PAS had packed up. It's hard work at
roundabouts, but as long as you keep it rolling, it's possible for all
except the very puny. And no, the steering isn't geared down on
commercials any more, since PAS has been fitted to nearly all of them
since the late 60's.

It's not the first time someone's used the "accellerator stuck"
excuse, there was a lorry driver a couple of years back who tried it,
speeding down the motorway, claiming he couldn't turn the engine off
to slow it down as he would have lost his brakes (and his PAS, he
said)

Anyone who knows anything about commercial air-brake systems would
immediatly spot this one as bollocks. I believe he was prosecuted for
speeding.

Alex
 

"Steve Taylor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Richard Brookman wrote:
>
>> I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty of
>> straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off, hold car
>> steady until it stops. How hard is that? (To be fair, a PAS car without
>> power to the steering is blooming hard work, as the steering is normally
>> geared very high.)
>
> Thje PAS pump is powered by the rotation of the engine, leave the damned
> thing in gear, turn the ignition off and you STILL have PAS all the way to
> stop.
>
> Steve

I was just thinking the same thing then a thought struck me.What if it
wasn't a manual box I rarely drive on an auto box these days but would the
torque converter supply enough thrust to keep the engine turning? either way
its pure rubbish I have been towed many miles with inoperative pas and no
servo brakes in loaded transit vans now that IS exciting but do-able the
last time was from the top of the Cat and Fiddle down to Manchester Airport
(engine seized) towed by an LWB series Landy so IMO the guy is a plank
Derek


 
On 2006-03-11, Tom Woods <[email protected]> wrote:

> When the power steering pump broke on my car, i drove it around for a
> month or so without one - it was still easier to manouver than a 101
>:)

Talk about wide goalposts! Easier to maneouver than a 101, let's just
think what isn't... Hmmm... Dockside crane?

My plastic rocket's got no PAS, wide front tyres, high geared steering
and a tiny steering wheel, I actually sprained my wrists trying to
drive it, after a few months they toughened up though. It was harder
to steer than the Defender without PAS.

Actually it might be harder than a 101, no visibility to the rear or
the sides, almost impossible to steer unless moving, and the added
bonus that if you manage to park it in a normal car park, you can't
open the doors to get out! So I think we can add a 17-year-old Lotus
to the list of things that are harder than a 101...

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
Richard Brookman wrote:

> ...and Ian Rawlings spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...
>
>
>
>>On 2006-03-11, Ian Rawlings <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>He wouldn't turn the ignition off because he'd have "lost
>>>everything" as it's got power steering... He used the brakes to
>>>hold it at 70MPH but they burned out, it was stuck in neutral etc..
>>
>>Ooops, not stuck in neutral, that would have solved it!
>>
>>Stuck in *gear*.
>
>
> I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty of
> straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off, hold car
> steady until it stops. How hard is that?

(snip)

He wasn't a professional footballer was he? The level of intelligence
seems to match.
 
On 2006-03-11, Dougal <DougalAThiskennel.free-online.co.uk> wrote:

> He wasn't a professional footballer was he? The level of intelligence
> seems to match.

He looked like an ageing barry boy (a.k.a chav) but in an automatic?

In the interview he didn't come across as competent, but then he might
be a brain surgeon in real life, although somehow I doubt it, his
rings would keep falling off into people's craniums.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
Can't be any harder than trying to steer a series out of a tight parking
spot, going from full lock to full lock.

What feels odd when the power suddenly goes off on the steering is the
sudden transition from easy to v hard, feels like it has locked up. ditto
with the brake servo.


--
Larry
Series 3 rust and holes



"Richard Brookman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> ...and Ian Rawlings spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...
>
>
> > On 2006-03-11, Ian Rawlings <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty of
> straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off, hold car
> steady until it stops. How hard is that? (To be fair, a PAS car without
> power to the steering is blooming hard work, as the steering is normally
> geared very high.)
>
> I've never owned a Beemer, and perhaps thay are more powerful than a very
> powerful thing, but I can't imagine any car I have ever driven that
couldn't
> be stalled, even with the gas full on, by a sufficiently determined
> application of the middle pedal. Thinking of drying out brakes etc.
>
> --
> Rich
> ==============================
>
> There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary
> and those who don't.
>
>


 
On or around Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:17:58 -0000, "Richard Brookman"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>I've never owned a Beemer, and perhaps thay are more powerful than a very
>powerful thing, but I can't imagine any car I have ever driven that couldn't
>be stalled, even with the gas full on, by a sufficiently determined
>application of the middle pedal. Thinking of drying out brakes etc.

not on an auto, though. You might get it to a halt, but you'd not stall it,
just stall the converter at probably about 1800 RPM or so. if it was once up
to speed and was a powerful motor at full throttle, the brakes might
possibly not stop it. Also, if it was going fast to start with, bringing it
down to a stop at full throttle might not happen before the brakes faded -
and if the brakes faded, I wouldn't bank on stopping it at all - I've only
once had terminal brake fade (due to a mixture of poor driving and worn
discs) and the brake performance was reduced to probably about 25% of normal
even with hard pedal pressure. Given something like a 3.5l BMW engine at
full chat, 25% brakes ain't gonna stop it, possibly.


none of which means the driver's not a muppet for not just switching off.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"You praise the firm restraint with which they write -_
I'm with you there, of course: They use the snaffle and the bit
alright, but where's the bloody horse? - Roy Campbell (1902-1957)
 

"jOn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Hirsty's" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "Ian Rawlings" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm
>>>
>>> Audio interview.
>>>
>>> Driver's automatic beemer's accelerator gets stuck, so he drives for
>>> 60 miles at speeds of up to 130MPH before crashing into a roundabout.
>>> During this he's on the phone to the police who scramble helicopters
>>> and cars although it's not mentioned what they were supposed to be
>>> doing.
>>>
>>> He wouldn't turn the ignition off because he'd have "lost everything"
>>> as it's got power steering... He used the brakes to hold it at 70MPH
>>> but they burned out, it was stuck in neutral etc..
>>>
>>> They've even got a (female) racing car driver on (but they didn't
>>> think to get a mechanic on) who also says that turning off the
>>> ignition would stop the steering working as "all cars have power
>>> steering these days", what the feck is wrong with the world these
>>> people are in???
>>>
>>> I also doubt that jumping on the brakes wouldn't have stopped it
>>> unless they were worn out, but using them to hold it at 70MPH would
>>> certainly heat them up for a while, 30 secs or so later they'd have
>>> worked again though.
>>>
>>> Having driven several cars with failed power steering, and even driven
>>> cars with failed brake servos, perhaps I'm some kind of superman? Or
>>> just not a complete dolt.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
>>
>>
>> But what an excellent excuse when faced with wanting to speed and not
>> being
>> able to do so legally; attention seeker ???
>>
>>
>
> That crossed my mind too.
>
>
Attention seeking nutjob if he is willing to crash to try and avoid getting
in trouble!!


--
1990 Ninety 2.5 n/a D (Jasmine) - the off-road toy
Ex- Freelander Td4 5dr owner - the worst vehicle I have ever had!!!
New Jeep Cherokee Ltd 2.8CRD Auto - freelander replacement.



 
On Saturday 11 March 2006 16:49, Ian Rawlings [[email protected]] wrote
in message <[email protected]>

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm
>
> Audio interview.
>
> Driver's automatic beemer's accelerator gets stuck, so he drives for
> 60 miles at speeds of up to 130MPH before crashing into a roundabout.
> During this he's on the phone to the police who scramble helicopters
> and cars although it's not mentioned what they were supposed to be
> doing.

His brakes, if in good condition, should have been able to stop the car. If
his brakes weren't in good condition then he was driving an unfit vehicle.

Turning off the ignition wouldn't have prevented him from driving or
braking. He could have always turned it back on again if he needed it.

There was nothing to stop him from driving into a field or, preferably, into
a bridge support.

The picture on the BBC news website makes him look like the least sharp tool
in the box. His audio interview reinforces the fact.

One thing worries me - how many more twerps like this are driving around on
our roads?

--
S3 SWB Petrol Hard-top
 
On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:47:14 +0000, PDannyD wrote:

> There was nothing to stop him from driving into a field or, preferably,
> into a bridge support.

I like the later.

> One thing worries me - how many more twerps like this are driving
> around on our roads?

At a guess most of them. Is "What to do if stuck in gear(*) and
accelerator jammed" part of the test these days?

(*)erm can't you get an auto box into N when it's moving? I managed to
get a hire care into R at 50mph forward on the freeway in the states.
Other than a loud bang, stalled engine and a surprised me (from the bang
and the fact it allowed me to do it) nothing was broke and the car drove
normally for the next thousand miles or so...

Why was I waggling the gear lever on the freeway? Not used to autos, not
used to being on the wrong side and I wanted to slow down.

--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail



 
On 2006-03-12, Dave Liquorice <[email protected]> wrote:

> (*)erm can't you get an auto box into N when it's moving?

On my 1997 Audi A4 I can switch either way between neutral and drive
at any time, however it's possible that his gearbox was screwed, it's
also possible that there's more to this than meets the eye. I find it
hard to credit that not only he could be so dumb as to be unable to
stop the car for 60 miles, but that the AA and police who he was
apparently on the phone to also couldn't manage it.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 

"Alex" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:39:27 +0000, Ian Rawlings
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On 2006-03-11, Richard Brookman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> I read this too. What a tw@t. He was on the A1, which has plenty
>>> of straight stretches. Wait for a straight bit, turn ignition off,
>>> hold car steady until it stops. How hard is that? (To be fair, a
>>> PAS car without power to the steering is blooming hard work, as the
>>> steering is normally geared very high.)
>>
>>I've driven my landy and my audi without the PAS working, it's hard to
>>steer at low speeds but at higher speeds it's not that difficult. I'm
>>a weedy computer consultant too.
>
> Even with the heaviest vehicles, it is still perfectly possible to
> steer without the help of PAS. I've had it pack up on fully laden
> double decker buses (about 15tonnes all-up) and when moving above
> 20mph you wouldn't notice the PAS had packed up. It's hard work at
> roundabouts, but as long as you keep it rolling, it's possible for all
> except the very puny. And no, the steering isn't geared down on
> commercials any more, since PAS has been fitted to nearly all of them
> since the late 60's.

All vehicles that travel faster than 50kph on the road have to have a
mechanical link to the steering system in case of assistance failure such as
a hydraulic failure. Slower and off-road vehicles can have fully hydrostatic
steering systems. The faster range of JCB Fastrac's have power assisted
steering [as have all cars trucks and buses] while the smaller 50kph range
has hydrostatic full power steering in common with other tractors.




>
> It's not the first time someone's used the "accellerator stuck"
> excuse, there was a lorry driver a couple of years back who tried it,
> speeding down the motorway, claiming he couldn't turn the engine off
> to slow it down as he would have lost his brakes (and his PAS, he
> said)
>
> Anyone who knows anything about commercial air-brake systems would
> immediatly spot this one as bollocks. I believe he was prosecuted for
> speeding.

They should throw the key away to protect the rest of us.

Huw


 
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