Explorer cruise control jams open in Victoria

[Whitey Ford]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/dri...-1225810668864

A MAN frantically jumped up and down on his brakes after being forced into oncoming freeway traffic today after his cruise control jammed.

The 22-year-old Melbourne man was travelling along the outbound lanes of the Eastern Freeway in his Ford Explorer about 12.40pm when he went to take the Burke Rd exit and was unable to get his car out of cruise control.

The man, who has not been identified, called 000 and a police van caught up with the car, travelling at 80km/h, at Springvale Rd.

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Other police cars provided an escort and assisted in clearing the way along Eastlink, as 000 operators contacted Ford to try to find a solution.

The car was moved over to left lanes as police lights and sirens cleared a path.

The driver told police he tried to brake, knock the car out of gear and remove the keys, all to no avail.

The car finally came off the freeway at Frankston and continued through the Cranbourne Rd intersection on to the Moorooduc Highway.

But the terrifying scenario got worse, as the driver encountered banked-up traffic near the Monash University Peninsula Campus and was forced to cross over the road into oncoming traffic.

In a frantic attempt to avoid a collision he jumped up and down on the brakes and pulled on the handbrake.

The car finally stopped on the wrong side of the road, just over the railway line about 1.10pm.

An ambulance took the driver to hospital suffering from shock.

Comment is being sought from Ford.

Sure sounds like user error.

I believe that cruise control automatically disengages if the speed drops 20km/h below the set speed, so it sounds like at the end when he managed to engage the handbrake, the speed dropped enough for the system to turn off.

Sounds like his brake switch broke which is why he couldn't disengage the cruise control by pressing the brakes.

Why couldn't he engage neutral though?

[irlewy86]

So the brake switch and cruise switch failed along with the gear selector. I'd like to know what really happened?

[dom_105]

Couldn't turn the car off?

[My poor XF]

Originally Posted by dom_105

Couldn't turn the car off?

The report says he removed the keys to no effect.

[Whitey Ford]

Originally Posted by My poor XF

The report says he removed the keys to no effect.

It said that he tried to remove the keys but couldn't.

I don't know Explorers, but the ignition might not let you switch off the ignition while in gear (assuming its auto).

Still don't understand why the driver couldn't select neutral.

[My poor XF]

Originally Posted by Whitey Ford

It said that he tried to remove the keys but couldn't.

I don't know Explorers, but the ignition might not let you switch off the ignition while in gear (assuming its auto).

Still don't understand why the driver couldn't select neutral.

Yeh neutral seems like a logical choice, i have my doubts that pumping the brakes or using the handbrake would fail to stop you either. Barring some catastrophic electrical failure of course.

[dom_105]

What was he doing in Frankston anyway? He could have got off at the Monash and went all the way to Traralgon with little effort.

Obviously nobody from highway patrol has watched Speed.

[AndrewR_AUII]

Originally Posted by My poor XF

The report says he removed the keys to no effect.

REMOVING the keys or just turning the ignition off ?

I am also sceptical on this one, what they are saying is a simultaneous multiple system failure:
a) Cruise control failure
b) Transmission (gear selector) jam
c) Brake Failure
d) Electrical system (ignition switch) failure.

Its either that or:
e) a Loose wheel nut

Look up Occam's razor to see in which direction I'm thinking...

It does raise the issue though of driver training - most people don't know how to deal with a stuck throttle, blown tyre etc etc.

[rodderz]

The radio report said territory, was it a terri or exploder?

[dom_105]

Originally Posted by rodderz

The radio report said territory, was it a terri or exploder?

02 Ford Explorer

[Rodp]

Sounds like bollocks to me.

While I haven't been in a situation where the cruise control has jammed, I have been in a situation with an XW where the throttle jammed wide open in a 60 zone. Took about half a second to realise what had gone wrong and put it into neutral before shutting it down.

[Brazen]

I remember seeing a doco on Youtube about Explorers having their throttle jammed open in the UK (another RHD market, hmmm) with tragic results. Probably worth a look to find it.

[Bobman]

How can you not turn the ignition off? I've never seen a car that won't let you turn the key off when driving.

Also, have driven cars where the cruise and accelerator cables have jammed, but quick thinking to put it in neutral avoided any disaster.

Definitely sounds like driver error.

[XR6_190]

i don't think i've EVER heard of this happening, I wouldn't think it would even be possible

[4Vman]

Sounds like BS to cover something else up... put the car in neutral and turn the car off..... if he cant work those basic things out hows he going to react in a real emergency...

[The Monty]

If it was manual, put the clutch in, if its auto, straight into neautral. Too many things there going wrong at texactly the same time, I think its just human error. Pull on the handbrake, if its roadworthy and works, that will stop you, albeit slightly sideways. And as if the brakes couldnt be used, Im calling major B/S to all this.

[Fairmont Man]

I'm with all of you, absolute total crap, no common sense I think. If you saw the guy on TV you might get the picture, claims to have "screamed" when the cops opened the door hmmmm : I can't see all failing at once, someone on the herald-sun site said something like "he tried but couldn't knock it out of gear, it was an electrical fault" how long has gear selection in Fords been totally electronic without any mechanical link at all?? I must have missed it. Do we know if auto or manual yet? I gotta say it makes me angry, I don't know why, and it shouldn't, but it and he does!

[Charliewool]

I heard the guy interviewed on 3aw around 5pm... This was what he said..
(like we ALL have Ford service number in our phone??)

Chase Weir today told Radio 3AW of his frantic calls to Ford and police after discovering he could not switch off the large vehicle, which was hitting speeds of more than 80km/h.


‘‘The person I spoke to at Ford service said the key wasn’t moving because it was driving in the wrong gear,’’ Mr Weir told 3AW.

‘‘At first he said ‘don’t drive the car because it’s dangerous’ and I said ‘well, that’s kind of the problem - I’m actually in the car and I cannot stop it’.’’

As the traffic got heavier, Mr Weir hung up and called Triple-O, where a police sergeant helped calm the scared motorist as the Ford sped along the freeway.

‘‘She asked me to again try turning the ignition off, put the car in neutral, put your whole body weight on the footbrake,’’ he told 3AW.

‘‘When I did that the car slowed to 80km/h but then the footbrake just became stiff, it wouldn’t go any further. So it was like I had no brakes,’’ he said.

‘‘The police sergeant told me to straight away put my hazards on and stay in the emergency lane.

‘‘It was a bit scary because every now and then you’d come up to someone sitting in the emergency lane talking on their mobile.’’

Police arrived quickly, with two cars under sirens and lights driving ahead of the tearaway four-wheel-drive to clear traffic.

‘‘Pretty much that’s all they could do until I reached Frankston and that’s just when I saw three or four lanes of traffic that wasn’t moving very fast and I’m doing 100 and I just said to her 'I’m going to die'.

‘‘And I just put all my weight on that footbrake, swerved on the wrong side of the road to avoid running into the back of everyone including other police cars, went over the concrete road island, bounced a bit.’’

Mr Weir also pulled on the handbrake, bringing the car to a halt outside the Monash University Peninsula campus - and just half a metre away from a head-on collision.

The 22-year-old, who is now recovering in Frankston Hospital, said he suffered some whiplash, and shock.

Police have taken the Ford for inspection.

‘‘Which I’m fine with,’’ Mr Weir laughed.

Ford Australia public relations manager Sinead McAlary said Ford had not experienced anything like this before.

‘‘We will be making contact with the driver as soon as possible to learn more about what took place and then get access to his vehicle to investigate the matter further," she said.

[4Vman]

I hope they drug tested him.....

[g220ba]

There's a lot of this story that makes no sense at all. A lot of things would need to go wrong in a short space of time. I personally can't see the ignition jamming, the brakes failing, the throttle jamming and the gear selector failing all in a short period of time. Something may have happened out there but the guy seems to be all over the news in a hurry. If the car is proven to be faulty well fair enough, if it's a hoax throw the book at him.

[SVTVNM]

I've got 2 comments firstly, For those that caught the interview on the news would agree, he didn't seem all that bright and also I hope they booked him for using his mobile while driving!

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by SVTVNM

I've got 2 comments firstly, For those that caught the interview on the news would agree, he didn't seem all that bright and also I hope they booked him for using his mobile while driving!

Good point - he was obviously on the phone...

I'd like to know how he managed to get a FORD Tech on the phone so quickly.... I reckon anytime that i've rung up Ford in general, i'm on hold for AGES....

Surely this will be investigated and the 'real' cause established...

As above has mentioned... it is amazing that SO many failures of the vehicle happened at once...
1. Couldn't operate brakes
2. Couldn't deactivate Cruise Control
3. Couldn't change gears from Drive into Neutral
4. Couldn't turn off car
Me thinks user error as well...

I'm sure it will come out in the wash... I also heard the 3AW interview... Maybe he's a distant cousin of that USA family with the weather balloon/floating kid drama.... /???

[galaxy xr8]

After reading some of the response's, maybe just maybe he might have been in a bit of a delima,
Does anybody here own a similar vehicle, as other's have responded that with the Explorer, you can not turn or take the key's out, and you can not put the lever into Neutral, now I don't claim this to be the case but other's that own similar vehicles will know.
Also I don't know how you would go by just jumping on the brakes, if the throttle was still going, I mean anybody who has done a line locker, would understand this.

[Falcman0o7]

What a load of CRAP.

[jimbobpro]

bffft what a looser i own an explorer and i really couldnt see this happenin DRUG TEST !!!!

[Jeddak]

Did any one see the news about two weeks ago when an American Toyota sedan had its throttle jammed wide open when the accessory floor mat ( not the fitted floor carpet ) got stuck on the lower end of the pedal??
the driver did not/ was not able to stop the car with very tragic results when his car shot through a "t" intersection at warp speed (ie flat out)

the car crashed and burned killing all on board.

Panic is a funny thing ...when it kicks in you find that you just CANNOT think logically.this is especially dangerous when it is coupled with lack of knowledge of how your car works and ( sorry young folks) youth

Youth is something we all go through ..it happens.

knowledge is different though.
even the very young drivers can benefit from a basic knowledge of the working of their cars, and unless proven otherwise by tests,both of these events could have been avoided by simply turning the ignition to the "acc"
or "off" position and guiding the car to the edge of the road.

NOT TO THE LOCK POSITION AND REMOVING THE KEY!!!( I cannot believe that he was told to do this!!)

doing this will only change the event from one type (excessive uncontrolled speed)to "no control at all" with predictable and tragic results

[XDV800]

The wombat was on 9 news and I can safely say that he was a dead set worry. A few stubbies short of a 6-pack.
Mind you it appeared that he managed to steer the ship around any collision and eventually came to a halt... in the opposite set of lanes!

[Charliewool]

Me, Walt, XRQTR, Mo, Wally and Rodderz put some intensive detective work into this and found the following!... Just how many Chase Weirs could there be? (who'd name their kid that for a start?)
The guys a plant.. Copenhagen's in tatters... What better way to push their trolley then an "outta control, gas guzzling, ozone depleting, climate destroying Toorak tractor threatening civilisation?...
LOOK..http://www.linkedin.com/in/chaseweir

[XDV800]

You guys

[Dave R]

God, so only at the very end of his fantastic journey he decides to pull the handbrake and the car stops? This guy sounds like a moron. I love how he calls 000 and has them ring up Ford for a solution. I could imagine the Ford tech on the other end of the phone saying "they all do that".