Driving With A Stuck Open Throttle Sucks

I had to move an old Mercedes C180 this week. It had been sitting in one spot for around two months and for the sake of neighbourly love, I decided to squeeze it onto my overflowing driveway. The journey from my old place to my new place takes around four minutes on foot, so in a car, you’re looking at approximately 30 seconds.

Now before we get onto what happened next, a disclaimer: the Mercedes in question cost me £200. It has an automatic gearbox. It is a pile of crap and I have no love for it. The battery is near dead. It idles like a pig. And the body work looks messier than one of those American housewives who’s spent tens of thousands on lip filler, implants and collagen.

So yes, on my 30-second journey, I pinned the throttle. And no, I didn’t care that the engine was stone cold. My right foot just did it without warning because, like a loyal dog presenting its paw, my leg knew that it would please me, its master.

What didn’t please me, was the unexpected way in which the throttle did not return to its original position after my right foot had lifted off in pursuit of the brake pedal. As the revs rose, my brain had a little panic but knew something was up, and so with full pressure on the brake pedal, a wheel locked up, slowing me down to around 15mph. But the car refused to come to a halt, so with that, I turned off the ignition, and that was that. Danger averted.

Straight after this incident, it struck me that mechanical faults and the resulting onset of panic can be catastrophic. Remember the story a few weeks ago about a guy who was decapitated when he collided with a parked lorry after his cruise control ‘locked’ on on the motorway? According to a vehicle data examiner and safety specialist, no braking was recorded before the crash, meaning that the poor guy seems to have had his foot buried on the accelerator pedal, and not the brake pedal as he thought when he called the emergency services before his death. When panic set in, then, this poor driver’s ability to assess the situation was gravely compromised.

And while my little adventure resulted in no harm, it did remind me to be more respectful of the potential dangers that come with driving a car. And without trying to sound like too much of a dad (which I’m not, by the way!), I’d like to extend that message to you guys, especially for those of you who have to deal with cold temperatures a lot at this time of year.

So in summary: enjoy cars, but don’t forget that they have the potential to screw you over. And also don’t forget that you probably don’t know yet how you’d react in a situation where panic takes over and makes you lose many of your senses.