Regaining Control of an Accelerating Vehicle

You may have heard recently Toyota is doing a massive recall of many vehicles, because their accelerator pedals have gotten stuck on their floor mats, causing the car or truck to accelerate out of control.

I actually just had this happen in my Toyota 4Runner, even though it isn’t included in the recall. My floor mat had bunched up and my accelerator pedal got stuck. Fortunately I was on the freeway without a lot of traffic. My instinct (while braking) was to reach down and pull the pedal up with my hand and fortunately, that worked.

Consumer Reports recommended something I didn’t think of: shifting the vehicle into neutral. They also say to brake firmly, without pumping the brakes, although I have to say that advice makes me a little nervous. When this happened to me, I had the sensation that braking firmly could cause the vehicle to swerve or even flip. (Whether it would have done that or not, I have no idea.)

All that said, I’m keeping “neutral” in the back of my mind in case this happens to me again. Stay safe on the road!

Has this ever happened to you? Or do you have a Toyota vehicle affected by the recall?