Muppet BMW driver

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"Derek" >
> 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?


Yes until quite low forward speeds of 30mph perhaps.


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


Of course he is.

Huw


 

"PDannyD" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> 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?
>


Far too many nutters and losers loose for the good and safety of society.
They are also an increasing proportion of the total number of people as they
breed faster and have more similar dysfunctional children than average and
they may eventually take over the asylum.

Huw


 

"Austin Shackles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 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.


You have to remember that he claims it was stuck in gear. In which case it
would be stuck in top gear and would be easy to stop but not actually to
stall as you say.




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 -


Braking hard and fast, it would not fade. Brake steadily for a long time and
they certainly would fade. It's all bollocks anyway.



> 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.


And possibly [probably] just a publicity seeking liar from the off.

Huw


 

"Huw" <hedydd[nospam]@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "PDannyD" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
>> 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?
>>

>
> Far too many nutters and losers loose for the good and safety of society.
> They are also an increasing proportion of the total number of people as
> they breed faster and have more similar dysfunctional children than
> average and they may eventually take over the asylum.
>
> Huw
>about 10 yrs ago i drove from weymouth to southampton in a rangerover with
>the accelerator stuck on full after losing all the thottle linkage
>components just by flicking the ignition key on and off to control the
>speed the only difficult bit was junctions if you dont turn the key fully
>off the the steering lock doesnt come on



 
On or around Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:45:48 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>(*)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...


Normally, you should be able to select N. however, on modern fly-by-wire
things I suppose it's possible that a systems failure gets it stuck in D and
full-throttle.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Something there is that doesn't love a wall."
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
 
On or around Sun, 12 Mar 2006 08:29:53 +0000, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>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.


The AA et al couldn't convince the moron to switch off. I bet had the AA
bloke or dibble been driving, they'd have switched off and come to a stop
same as the rest of us.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Something there is that doesn't love a wall."
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
 
On 2006-03-12, Austin Shackles <[email protected]> wrote:

> The AA et al couldn't convince the moron to switch off. I bet had the AA
> bloke or dibble been driving, they'd have switched off and come to a stop
> same as the rest of us.


Plod seem to do OK on the televised car chases with the stinger wheel
puncture things, don't see why it wouldn't work on King of the
Muppets. It's possible I suppose that the stinger isn't as effective
as the patronising telly presenters make it out to be on the box.

Sounds like someone's license needs to be revoked at the very least..

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
Ian Rawlings wrote:

> On 2006-03-12, Austin Shackles <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> The AA et al couldn't convince the moron to switch off. I bet had the AA
>> bloke or dibble been driving, they'd have switched off and come to a stop
>> same as the rest of us.

>
> Plod seem to do OK on the televised car chases with the stinger wheel
> puncture things, don't see why it wouldn't work on King of the
> Muppets. It's possible I suppose that the stinger isn't as effective
> as the patronising telly presenters make it out to be on the box.
>
> Sounds like someone's license needs to be revoked at the very least..
>


Problem with a stinger is that it relies on making the car undrivable by
giving you 4 flats - if this guy genuinely was out of control then he'd
have ended up running at speed on the rims which would have made it as
close to uncontrollable as you'll get.

P.
 
On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 14:16:01 +0000, Austin Shackles
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On or around Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:45:48 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
><[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>
>>(*)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...

>
>Normally, you should be able to select N. however, on modern fly-by-wire
>things I suppose it's possible that a systems failure gets it stuck in D and
>full-throttle.


My Volvo will select N at any speed. I did once select N at a rather
high speed after overshooting the lever back into D.

I've also accidentally switched the bugger off on the motorway due the
stupid oversize keys on cars these days. No drama, swich it back on
and it starts back up from the torque convertor. No loss of brakes or
steering.

I can't see any reason why both the gearbox and accelerator would
magically jam at the same time. One or the other possibly, but a
fly-by-wire would surely fail safe in any case.

--
Tim Hobbs
 
Austin Shackles wrote:
> On or around Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:45:48 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
> <[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>
>> (*)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...

>
> Normally, you should be able to select N. however, on modern
> fly-by-wire things I suppose it's possible that a systems failure
> gets it stuck in D and full-throttle.


The wifes Touareg got stuck in 6th gear & fecked the box. All done by electronics. You could move the
lever, but nothing happened. However, we just turned the car off like you would!!!

Blokes a cabbage & you cant help but wonder why it's on the news? He must have 'reported' it to them if
you know what i mean.

I mean, when the local tyre remmies fit a slightly different tyre size to my 98 Vectra & it confuses the
entire braking system on left hand bends on the motorway (M621 Leeds) & the brakes fail totally at 50mph
downhill, i didnt call ther AA or the Police. Just my wife for some new trousers!

That really did happen to me years ago. Vauxhall had some explaining to do i can tell you. So did the
tyre fools.

It was something to do with the abs sensors i was told. Scared the **** out of me.

Nige

--

Subaru WRX
Range Rover 4.6 HSE (The Tank!)

'"Opinions are like arseholes, everyones got one"


 
....and Austin Shackles spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...

> The AA et al couldn't convince the moron to switch off. I bet had
> the AA bloke or dibble been driving, they'd have switched off and
> come to a stop same as the rest of us.


Just a thort - perhaps the AA didn't advise him to switch off (or whatever)
for liability reasons. If they had told him to do X (where X is anything
sensible) and he crashed it anyway, might they be liable in law for the
resultant damage? Same for the dibbles. Safer (from a liability point of
view) to say nothing, let him crash, and pick up the pieces afterwards.
Allow Darwinism to work unimpeded, as it were.

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

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


 
In message <[email protected]>, Huw
<hedydd@[nospam].invalid> writes

[snip]

>You have to remember that he claims it was stuck in gear. In which case it
>would be stuck in top gear and would be easy to stop but not actually to
>stall as you say.


So bring it to a reduced speed and drive it head-on into a concrete
bridge pillar. The crumple zone and air bags would do their bit, and
he'd have stopped the car safely.

>Braking hard and fast, it would not fade. Brake steadily for a long time and
>they certainly would fade. It's all bollocks anyway.


Of course. Turning the ignition key to the off position, but not
withdrawing it, would have left him with steering intact, it wouldn't
have locked the steering wheel.

>> none of which means the driver's not a muppet for not just switching off.

>
>And possibly [probably] just a publicity seeking liar from the off.


That's my reading.

--
Jonathan

"Nothing adds a little class to a sniper course
like a babe in a ghille suit."
Clint Smith, director of Thunder Ranch:
part drill instructor, part stand-up comic.
 

"Jonathan Spencer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In message <[email protected]>, Huw <hedydd@[nospam].invalid>
> writes
>
> [snip]
>
>>You have to remember that he claims it was stuck in gear. In which case it
>>would be stuck in top gear and would be easy to stop but not actually to
>>stall as you say.

>
> So bring it to a reduced speed and drive it head-on into a concrete bridge
> pillar. The crumple zone and air bags would do their bit, and he'd have
> stopped the car safely.


That's one hard way of stopping it I suppose and with a bit of luck humanity
would be just a bit stronger for it. Natural selection and all that.


>
>>Braking hard and fast, it would not fade. Brake steadily for a long time
>>and
>>they certainly would fade. It's all bollocks anyway.

>
> Of course. Turning the ignition key to the off position, but not
> withdrawing it, would have left him with steering intact, it wouldn't have
> locked the steering wheel.
>
>>> none of which means the driver's not a muppet for not just switching
>>> off.

>>
>>And possibly [probably] just a publicity seeking liar from the off.

>
> That's my reading.
>


A surprising number of people seem to take the story at face value. Not a
good sign that natural selection and evolution has worked adequately well
thus far in strengthening the breed type.

Huw


 
In message <[email protected]>, Austin Shackles
<[email protected]> writes
>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.


Stopping with an auto? - just put it into Park mate. One way or another
- you'll stop!!
--
hugh
Reply to address is valid at the time of posting
 

"hugh" <hugh@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In message <[email protected]>, Austin Shackles
> <[email protected]> writes
>>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.

>
> Stopping with an auto? - just put it into Park mate. One way or another -
> you'll stop!!


It'll be just as effective to pull it back to neutral. The park lock device
will not engage at high speed but will rattle noisily and may get broken off
at lower speed, say below 10mph.

Huw


 
On or around Mon, 13 Mar 2006 18:15:16 -0000, "Huw"
<hedydd[nospam]@tiscali.co.uk> enlightened us thusly:

>
>It'll be just as effective to pull it back to neutral. The park lock device
>will not engage at high speed but will rattle noisily and may get broken off
>at lower speed, say below 10mph.


I gather from an ex-Borg Warner employee that someone once came up with the
brilliant idea of testing the strength of the "Park" mechanism by dropping
it into P at 30 mph. The 'box was supposed to be able to survive this, but
apparently the engine mountings didn't...

'course, could be a UL.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then
something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination -
we learned to talk." Pink Floyd (1994)
 
Austin Shackles wrote:

> I gather from an ex-Borg Warner employee that someone once came up with the
> brilliant idea of testing the strength of the "Park" mechanism by dropping
> it into P at 30 mph. The 'box was supposed to be able to survive this, but
> apparently the engine mountings didn't...
>
> 'course, could be a UL.


It's probably UL as they won't lock the parking pawl at 30 mph (been
there tried that). However hooking up reverse at speed (and revs) rips
engines off their mounts and drops bits of driveline on the road. :)


--
EMB
 
On or around Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:26:35 +1300, EMB <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>Austin Shackles wrote:
>
>> I gather from an ex-Borg Warner employee that someone once came up with the
>> brilliant idea of testing the strength of the "Park" mechanism by dropping
>> it into P at 30 mph. The 'box was supposed to be able to survive this, but
>> apparently the engine mountings didn't...
>>
>> 'course, could be a UL.

>
>It's probably UL as they won't lock the parking pawl at 30 mph (been
>there tried that). However hooking up reverse at speed (and revs) rips
>engines off their mounts and drops bits of driveline on the road. :)


we won't ask how you know that...
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
Appearances: You don't really need make-up. Celebrate your authentic
face by frightening people in the street.
from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.
 
Austin Shackles wrote:
> On or around Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:26:35 +1300, EMB <[email protected]>
> enlightened us thusly:
>
>
>>Austin Shackles wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I gather from an ex-Borg Warner employee that someone once came up with the
>>>brilliant idea of testing the strength of the "Park" mechanism by dropping
>>>it into P at 30 mph. The 'box was supposed to be able to survive this, but
>>>apparently the engine mountings didn't...
>>>
>>>'course, could be a UL.

>>
>>It's probably UL as they won't lock the parking pawl at 30 mph (been
>>there tried that). However hooking up reverse at speed (and revs) rips
>>engines off their mounts and drops bits of driveline on the road. :)

>
>
> we won't ask how you know that...


Thank goodness for electronics....
My very very ****ed BOL passenger slipped my P38 into reverse when I was
doing about 75ish on the M4 late at night just after Christmas. First I
knew was a sudden loss of drive. Took a few seconds for me to realise
what he had done. After the initial panic and swearing at him I carried
on as if nothing had happened. Imagine the fun we could have had if it
was a mechanical set-up instead of an ECU controlled box.

Gazza
 
Austin Shackles wrote:
> On or around Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:26:35 +1300, EMB <[email protected]>
> enlightened us thusly:


>>It's probably UL as they won't lock the parking pawl at 30 mph (been
>>there tried that). However hooking up reverse at speed (and revs) rips
>>engines off their mounts and drops bits of driveline on the road. :)

>
>
> we won't ask how you know that...


I tried it with a rotten old SD1 - it was good for nowt but scrap - so I
decided to see what actually would happen, and the results were much
what I expected.


--
EMB
 
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