Quote Originally Posted by QuadManiac View Post
I wondered this, originally, when I first heard the story... facts that came out of it don't answer all of the questions - but, he was a long time CHP officer, in a rental Lexus with 3 additional family memebers in the car... no training or experience with the vehicle. It was a new one with the ON button instead of an ignition key, and I now learn that one had to push and hold it for more than 3 seconds to turn the engine off. I can understand how, especially with no training in the operation, and in the heat of the moment, this could cause problems trying to kill the engine in a panic situation. It was one of the family members, not the driver, that was on the cell phone with 911 operators towards the end of the ordeal.

I don't know why he couldn't put the car in neutral (I would certainly expect someone with his CHP experience to have tried), but let me ask all of us SE5 owners out there - how would WE put our Spyder in neutral in a panic situation? Answer? - WE CAN'T. We can't pull in the clutch... and we must downshift through first to get to neutral, AND the computer won't let us downshift if it will over-rev the engine (which IS, btw, my biggest complaint about the SE5 - I'd like a way to go straight to neutral). I posit the Lexus in question may have had electronic paddle shifters and would not allow downshifting to get into neutral at that speed? Of course, we have the kill switch... The Lexus didn't have that luxury. Perhaps it should?

This was in my town, so there was a lot of coverage. My heart goes out to those that he and his 3 family members left behind.
You bring up some good points. People living in other parts of the country seem to have gotten an abbreviated description of the incident. When all the facts are presented it's easier to understand why the vehicle speed wasn't able to be controlled.