Niles woman experiences sticky gas pedal, puts advice into action
Niles, MI
Lynda Price says the advice she learned Monday on 16 Morning News may have saved her life when the gas pedal in her Toyota SUV suddenly became stuck.
Posted: 5:20 AM Feb 2, 2010
Reporter: Alana Greenfogel
Email Address:
Alana.Greenfogel@WNDU.com
Niles woman experiences sticky gas pedal, puts advice into action
Niles woman says safety tips helped in accelerator emergency
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Toyotas recall became reality for a Niles woman Monday after her gas pedal actually got stuck.
"I had, really, a death grip on the steering wheel and I looked down and I could just see it. I was at 90 mph at that point," explains Lynda Price shortly after the scare.
Lynda says the scariest part is her car, a 2008 4Runner, has not been recalled. That leads her to believe more models may soon end up on that list.
"I think people need to know they really need to watch their Toyotas, even if it's not on the recall."
Lynda was driving home Monday afternoon. After passing a school bus, she suddenly realized her gas pedal was stuck and kept accelerating.
"I could feel it. The pedal was just stuck. It was just going. I had no control over it."
Lynda says she recalled the advice she heard earlier that day on 16 Morning News and put what she learned into practice.
"I put all my weight down on that break pedal and then I grabbed it and then with all my strength just put it into neutral," Lynda describes. "Thank God there was nobody else on the road because I was on the wrong side of the road and went back and forth so I'm just extremely thankful at this point in time."
Here are a few tips if your gas pedal ever sticks, no matter what kind of car you drive.
* Put both feet on the brake and push hard, but don't pump them.
* Then throw the car in neutral and try to guide your car safely to the side of the road.
* Turn the engine off and don't take out the key until your car is safely parked.
* If your car has a push button start, just press and hold for three seconds for it to shut off.
After Lynda got home, her husband, Jeff, took the car for a ride and the same thing happened to him.
"It just stuck, Jeff Price explains. It just took off and wouldn't stop."
Lynda brought her car into a local Toyota dealership Tuesday and says mechanics cant find anything wrong with her car. She says she was told her pedal is different than the ones that have been recalled.
One of the causes for Toyotas gas pedals to stick is when they get caught on all-weather or after-market mats. Lynda did have an all-weather man placed over her carpet mat the first time the pedal stuck. She says the pedal was nowhere near the mat. Her husband, Jeff, says he took the all-weather mat out, though, before he drove the car and the problem still persisted.
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