I drove to Eastern Iowa today and just past Webster City I set the cruise control. It slipped up to 72 and it was a little frosty out for that so I touched the brakes to turn off the cruise. I was planning to let it slow down to 65 and stick to the speed limit until I got a better feel for the road.
The car slowed to 70, and then inched back up to 72.
Weird. I thought I'd turned off the cruise with the brake. Maybe I didn't hit the brake enough.
Apply brake again. Pam, mother-in-lawish type, beside me adjusted herself in the seat a bit for comfort.
The car slowed to 67 and then, inched back up to 72.
Shit.
I turned off the cruise by reaching up to switch off the after-market cruise control I've had on the car since I got it and used with great success for 80,000 miles over the past 3 years.
The car maintained 72 miles per hour.
Shit.
I put on the brake again and pushed in the clutch. The car slowed, but the engine revved waaaay up. Crap! My foot wasn't on the gas at all!
The cruise was stuck on. I was in fifth gear going 72 miles an hour on potentially icy roads... and Pam was with me... she's not a fan of the driving anomalies. In fact, she can be a real wreck when things go awry. She wasn't too keen on my check engine light coming on before we got out of town (Coolant temp too low. I need to replace the thermostat, known problem.) truth be told.
So, deciding this wasn't safe, and not an auspicious start to a 4 hour drive (one way) just 30 minutes out, I applied the brakes and dropped down to 35mph before pulling off to the shoulder and putting in the clutch. The car immediately red-lined at like a zillion RPM and I switched it off. I didn't want to do that too soon, I'd lose power steering when I turned it off. I'd prefer to do that when the car is aimed the right direction. Pam now can't help but notice something is up. "OH!" She says as we coast to a stop.
"The cruise control wouldn't shut off." I said as we sat for a few seconds, the smell of burning engine juices of some sort wafting into the engine compartment. "I washed the car last night. It probably got ice on something."
I started the car with my foot on the brake and clutch, ready to turn it off if I got runaway engine sounds. They didn't reoccur so we finished the trip without cruise control. I called my mechanic a few hours later and asked him if that was possible and he said it was. I should be fine though after things warmed up. I didn't test it again yet. I'll try it later, somewhere safe, close to his shop, and at a slower speed.
Meanwhile, we got there and back again OK and without any further excitement. Her comment, "You're so calm during this stuff." I was calm when I ran over the deer and drove around the one standing in the road too. (I did NOT veer around it. I steered around it. The difference is I never lost control of the car, oversteered, or didn't know where I was going. I'm an excellent driver, seriously.)
3 comments:
That is crazy! Shit, I don't know what I would have done but freak out. However, now having read this, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO.
Now if you can just teach me to be more calm in more situations, that would be AWESOME.
I am so glad you are okay. :)
It sounds like I'm kidding, but I'd thought of that situation before, or one like it. Remember the runaway Priuses? As soon as I'd heard of it I tried to think of what I'd do in a situation where the car didn't want to stop. I thought about it a lot.
I'm not a pessimist. But I like to think of what I would do in situations that could come up... it's my way of being prepared in advance so I don't have to freak out. I'm something of a control type person. I don't want to say control-freak, but I'm a HUGE planner. (That being said I'm good with spontaneity as well... if someone else starts it. I'm not good at coming up with things at the drop of a hat, but I'm willing to follow someone else's wild goose chase as long as it's fun.
So, think of weird situations and what would you do? Think about it a lot? What would you do right now if someone came in the room with a knife. Where's the nearest thing you could use as a weapon or the nearest phone? Where's the nearest place to hide? I don't know how you'd react to a knife. You don't either. Maybe you think you can take 'em. Plan it. Maybe you know you can't. Plan the hide. Do that with all sorts of situations all the time. Make it a habit.
I've spent the lottery winnings dozens of time. :) Now if only I could win it. I'm ready!
I tend to be a planner as well. Oddly, I never thought of those kinds of things until my boyfriend explained similar such senarios. There is a show we watch called "Personal Defense" and the girls even watch with us. I have put my important documents in a waterproof bag and near a duffle with which we could take off quickly with if there was some sort of apocolyptic event. I post answers sometimes to the questions over on Momversation and they had a really interesting video regarding emergency planning. Even stuff I have never thought of. I think more people are thinking that way as of late and thinking about senarios.
Seriously, I am glad you shared this experience. I hope I never have cause to use the info but now I am glad I have it!
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