Uncontrolled acceleration

[RamCares]

It was towed by a local towing company to an auto repair service in our town. I let them know what happened and asked them not to drive it. Once it is repaired, I will have it towed to the dealer I bought it from for a full analysis. Hopefully, the vehicle data recorder will be able to tell us what happened.

Please let us know once a dealer appointment is in place. We would like to be of assistance and work in collaboration with your dealer!

Hannah
Ram Cares

 

[RamDiver]

I think this all varies by reaction time per person among other factors. Changing the radio station? You probably aren't expecting your vehicle to accelerate full throttle. At a stop sign by yourself? Probably not a big deal. In a line of traffic? Maybe not enough time to keep you from bumping into that person in front of you.

I feel like most of the time, yeah someone should be able to hit the brakes in time, but I could see how it could get away from someone in some instances.

Yup, we're all a bit different, and that keeps life more interesting.
And, the nuances of most individual situations make for a unique event.

I was actually test driving a manual mustang one time, early 2000s model. First time I had driven a mustang with a clutch. Got on it a bit to get onto the freeway and somehow manage to stomp on both the clutch and the brake pedal. I felt bad, guy must have thought I was some kinda moron.

If you haven't experienced tapping the clutch and brake on a new-to-you standard, once in a while, you haven't driven in that many different standard vehicles.

IIRC, a Honda Civic with big winter boots can be a bit of a PITA, unless it's a daily driver.
In the early '80s, my first truck (wannabe) was a wee standard Nissan Kingcab, 2WD.

It was made in Japan for small people with small feet. LOL
Even as a daily driver, hitting the adjacent pedal while wearing large winter boots was just normal.

.

 

[Docwagon1776]

So I wonder which is easier to find neutral on in a runaway truck scenario, a column mounted shifter that's in your eyeline as you watch the road and is a much more gross motor skill to grab and shift or a dial shifter that's well below your eyeline and requires more fine muscle control?

Remember going to park won't work. The transmission knows it's going to fast and won't sacrifice itself in an attempt to stop you. Neutral is the safest option. Turning the vehicle off can cause the steering to lock, which is definitely suboptimal.

 

[Intrepid Corsair]

Please let us know once a dealer appointment is in place. We would like to be of assistance and work in collaboration with your dealer!

Hannah
Ram Cares

This morning, I received an email from Nick Cappa, who sent a follow up email to customer care. This afternoon, I received and email from an independent technician from Bosch who will be downloading the EDR information. I believe they will be working with Peters Ram dealer in Longview, TX. It will be interesting to see what data they find.

As for the big feet mentioned above, my wife doesn't have large feet. Furthermore, she is a lefty, so she uses her left foot for the brake. It is virtually, but not quite, impossible to bridge the gap between the accelerator and brake using the left foot.

 

[RamDiver]

So I wonder which is easier to find neutral on in a runaway truck scenario, a column mounted shifter that's in your eyeline as you watch the road and is a much more gross motor skill to grab and shift or a dial shifter that's well below your eyeline and requires more fine muscle control?

Remember going to park won't work. The transmission knows it's going to fast and won't sacrifice itself in an attempt to stop you. Neutral is the safest option. Turning the vehicle off can cause the steering to lock, which is definitely suboptimal.

That might be a good muscle memory to develop for the recent model truck owners.
Slap it in neutral and shutoff the ignition when safe to do so.

And, the first part could easily be practiced to develop the muscle memory skill.
.

 

[RamCares]

Appreciate the context, @Intrepid Corsair! We're here if you need.

Hannah
Ram Cares

 

[RamDiver]

This morning, I received an email from Nick Cappa, who sent a follow up email to customer care. This afternoon, I received and email from an independent technician from Bosch who will be downloading the EDR information. I believe they will be working with Peters Ram dealer in Longview, TX. It will be interesting to see what data they find.

Congrats on the latest developments.
We will all be watching how this percolates and looking forward to hearing the updates.

As for the big feet mentioned above, my wife doesn't have large feet. Furthermore, she is a lefty, so she uses her left foot for the brake. It is virtually, but not quite, impossible to bridge the gap between the accelerator and brake using the left foot.

I'm sure the large feet reference had nothing to do with your wife.
We just have to extrapolate and justify how this might happen to the masses.

.

 

[Wild one]

So I wonder which is easier to find neutral on in a runaway truck scenario, a column mounted shifter that's in your eyeline as you watch the road and is a much more gross motor skill to grab and shift or a dial shifter that's well below your eyeline and requires more fine muscle control?

Remember going to park won't work. The transmission knows it's going to fast and won't sacrifice itself in an attempt to stop you. Neutral is the safest option. Turning the vehicle off can cause the steering to lock, which is definitely suboptimal.

I'm the oddball then,as i always put everything into neutral when coming to a stop,my Dad trained us kids to do it that way,and i've been doing it for the last 50+ years. I'll gear them down first,but once i'm close to coming to a stop i'll throw it into neutral,makes stopping on ice better,and we have our share of icy streets and roads here for about 5 months out of the year BTW: have i said how much i hate Canuck winters

 

[turkeybird56]

I'm the oddball then,as i always put everything into neutral when coming to a stop,my Dad trained us kids to do it that way,and i've been doing it for the last 50+ years. I'll gear them down first,but once i'm close to coming to a stop i'll throw it into neutral,makes stopping on ice better,and we have our share of icy streets and roads here for about 5 months out of the year BTW: have i said how much i hate Canuck winters

Sounds like an oxymoron:

Canuck hating Canuck Winters!!!

Been seeing reports in upstate NY and like Juneau, Alaska where they have already gotten over 80” of snow. Swamping docked boats, roofs etc. Dat just gotta suck soooooo bad.

 

[Dean2]

This morning, I received an email from Nick Cappa, who sent a follow up email to customer care. This afternoon, I received and email from an independent technician from Bosch who will be downloading the EDR information. I believe they will be working with Peters Ram dealer in Longview, TX. It will be interesting to see what data they find.

As for the big feet mentioned above, my wife doesn't have large feet. Furthermore, she is a lefty, so she uses her left foot for the brake. It is virtually, but not quite, impossible to bridge the gap between the accelerator and brake using the left foot.

Sounds like pretty good progress. Only question is, about the "independent tech from Bosch". Is he hired by your insurance company or by Stellantis. If it is Stellantis, then not all that independent in my view. I would strongly suggest you get the data downloaded by your own tech BEFORE anyone else gets access and keep a copy. See if the Bosh download matches yours.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Sounds like an oxymoron:

Canuck hating Canuck Winters!!!

Been seeing reports in upstate NY and like Juneau, Alaska where they have already gotten over 80” of snow. Swamping docked boats, roofs etc. Dat just gotta suck soooooo bad.

Yup, just like living on another planet.

 

[Intrepid Corsair]

Sounds like pretty good progress. Only question is, about the "independent tech from Bosch". Is he hired by your insurance company or by Stellantis. If it is Stellantis, then not all that independent in my view. I would strongly suggest you get the data downloaded by your own tech BEFORE anyone else gets access and keep a copy. See if the Bosh download matches yours.

The tech is employed by Bosch, which is an independent company and the one who supplied the black box to Stellantis. They would be the best ones to retrieve the data and their reputation would go with what they do with it. I will have one of my own agents with him when he DL's it and they will go over the data and submit a copy to me. Stellantis is paying the bill on this and my Insurance agency, State Farm, is ok with it. Obviously, a certain amount of trust is involved otherwise, everyone would have to have competing techs standing around trying to be the first to get the data. Obviously, if Stellantis wants to sweep this under the table by secretly paying off the Bosch employee, my shallow pockets won't disrupt that.

 

[Dean2]

The tech is employed by Bosch, which is an independent company and the one who supplied the black box to Stellantis. They would be the best ones to retrieve the data and their reputation would go with what they do with it. I will have one of my own agents with him when he DL's it and they will go over the data and submit a copy to me. Stellantis is paying the bill on this and my Insurance agency, State Farm, is ok with it. Obviously, a certain amount of trust is involved otherwise, everyone would have to have competing techs standing around trying to be the first to get the data. Obviously, if Stellantis wants to sweep this under the table by secretly paying off the Bosch employee, my shallow pockets won't disrupt that.

If you are satisfied with the process then I have nothing more to add. My distrust is based on a lot of previous experience so I tend not to be as trusting.

All the best. Let us know what they find please.

 

[Intrepid Corsair]

If you are satisfied with the process then I have nothing more to add. My distrust is based on a lot of previous experience so I tend not to be as trusting.

All the best. Let us know what they find please.

I don't trust them at all but I have to meet them some part of the way.

 

[Docwagon1776]

The tech is employed by Bosch, which is an independent company and the one who supplied the black box to Stellantis. They would be the best ones to retrieve the data and their reputation would go with what they do with it. I will have one of my own agents with him when he DL's it and they will go over the data and submit a copy to me. Stellantis is paying the bill on this and my Insurance agency, State Farm, is ok with it. Obviously, a certain amount of trust is involved otherwise, everyone would have to have competing techs standing around trying to be the first to get the data. Obviously, if Stellantis wants to sweep this under the table by secretly paying off the Bosch employee, my shallow pockets won't disrupt that.

If he provides a copy it'll be legit. I don't fully understand the technology myself, but our tech nerds do. Somehow there's a "hash" applied and it'll show if the copy is altered after it was pulled. Remember these things are often pulled for evidentiary purposes, so being able to show it's not tampered with can be pretty important.

 

[turkeybird56]

I'm the oddball then,as i always put everything into neutral when coming to a stop,my Dad trained us kids to do it that way,and i've been doing it for the last 50+ years. I'll gear them down first,but once i'm close to coming to a stop i'll throw it into neutral,makes stopping on ice better,and we have our share of icy streets and roads here for about 5 months out of the year BTW: have i said how much i hate Canuck winters

I only put into neutral when driving manual trans. My 67 Chevy had a monster spring to the throw out bearing and you wear out that left leg real quick, LOL.

 

[Wild one]

I only put into neutral when driving manual trans. My 67 Chevy had a monster spring to the throw out bearing and you wear out that left leg real quick, LOL.

I actually like the knob over the column shifter for putting them in neutral when coming to a stop

 

[tap4154]

So I wonder which is easier to find neutral on in a runaway truck scenario, a column mounted shifter that's in your eyeline as you watch the road and is a much more gross motor skill to grab and shift or a dial shifter that's well below your eyeline and requires more fine muscle control?

Remember going to park won't work. The transmission knows it's going to fast and won't sacrifice itself in an attempt to stop you. Neutral is the safest option. Turning the vehicle off can cause the steering to lock, which is definitely suboptimal.

If you hit neutral the engine's going to over-rev. Seems to me just turning the key off would be the quickest solution. If your foot's already on the brake it's going to stop.

 

[PA Ram]

I actually like the knob over the column shifter for putting them in neutral when coming to a stop

I hate being in neutral. I drove stick and almost never took it out of gear same on my bike. I think riding a motorcycle in some shady traffic has made me super defensive as did the military. I'm always looking for an exit if something happens. My luck car behind me doesn't stop and I rev to redline trying to move.

 

[Wild one]

If you hit neutral the engine's going to over-rev. Seems to me just turning the key off would be the quickest solution. If your foot's already on the brake it's going to stop.

They don't turn off if they're in neutral or gear,at least the push button start ones don't.You have to hold the start button down for 30 seconds or more to shut down a push to start vehicle if it's in gear or neutral.
Try it with your key ignition truck,i'd be amazed if you can turn it off if it's in gear or neutral