Reading the article about the woman whose car crashed into the Auburndale Cleaners when it suddenly accelerated (Dec. 5) prompts me to write about a similar experience that I had and what caused it. It was a mechanical cause and not human error.
Driving on Route 2 coming out of Wilton, my car suddenly and uncontrollably accelerated at full throttle. I could not stop it with my brakes. After I shifted into "park" mode, the car came to a stop, still screaming at full throttle. The cause: a screw had vibrated loose and had fallen into the throttle cable linkage and was holding the throttle open. It could not be closed until the loose screw was removed.
How many other, sometimes fatal, accidents have been caused by this, which went undetected because the car was wrecked?
It would take a simple engineering change to protect the throttle linkage on all cars. A screen could cover the area so nothing could ever fall in to block the throttle.
Allidah Iles, Bethel
Report a correction
In order to make comments, you must verify your account.
In order to comment on SunJournal.com, you must use your real name and include the town in which you live in your profile. A member of our staff will call you to verify this information. To join in, fill out your user profile completely and check the box "please verify my status." We'll get back to you within one business day to verify your account.
Login or create an account here.
Our policy prohibits comments that are:
- Defamatory, abusive, obscene, racist, or otherwise hateful
- Excessively foul and/or vulgar
- Inappropriately sexual
- Baseless personal attacks or otherwise threatening
- Contain illegal material, or material that infringes on the rights of others
- Commercial postings attempting to sell a product/item
If you violate this policy, your comment will be removed and your account may be banned.