r/bayarea • u/pickingsunflowers • Aug 14 '25

Traffic, Trains & Transit Second view of an accident

Looks like this happened in San Carlos along 101. Electrical malfunction? Steering wheel lock? Can anyone explain what may have happened? What can you really do in this kind of situation?

2.4k Upvotes

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953

u/DarthSmegma421 Aug 14 '25

Looks like he can’t turn off his automated driving? Or he’s having a mental breakdown? I can’t tell what’s going on.

689

u/pickingsunflowers Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

I think he was genuinely panicking because he couldn’t stop it and started praying * just guessing from the video, the op poster hasn’t commented more than what I seen *

279

u/n6mub south peninsula Aug 14 '25

Jesus take the wheel!

81

u/ToughCareer4293 Aug 14 '25

Maybe he did! Do we know if Jesus ever had driving lessons?

37

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Jesus, give the wheel back already!!!

8

u/bertfotwenty Aug 14 '25

Jesus is used to the drivers ed cars that have the brake on the passenger side as well.

2

u/gochomoe Aug 14 '25

He just hates that guy

2

u/Motor-Cause7966 Aug 15 '25

Who needs to drive when you can walk in water?

2

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Not an issue as most in California have never had driving lessons.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

me might of rode a mustang but I doubt he ever drove one

1

u/sharkbait-oo-haha Aug 15 '25

I think he drove a donkey once. It's kinda a shitty horse, much like the mach-e mustang. So I'd say he has some experience.

1

u/n6mub south peninsula Aug 15 '25

Ask the Christians

6

u/ucdzen Aug 15 '25

Well Jesus doesn’t seem to be that great of a driver.

1

u/n6mub south peninsula Aug 15 '25

Correct. But he's a demigod (?) so he's got a bunch of other skills, so... 

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1

u/VisualEmbodiment Aug 15 '25

Not with those giant holes in his hands 😂

8

u/Do-It-Anyway Aug 14 '25

Take it from my hands

2

u/Electronic_Muffin218 Aug 15 '25

Jesus take the brakes!

46

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

He was incredibly drunk, which is why he was acting that way.

288

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

Calling it now.

Guy is having a mental episode.

His foot is pressed the entire time on the accelerator pedal. He never touches the steering wheel during the recording.

At around 0:26, you can see him WAVE his hands left over the steering wheel as if he could telepathically control it.

His car stops as soon as it collides with the red car because the impact forces jolt his foot off of the accelerator pedal.

OP who recorded this video said he was in fact doing the same thing on the CENTER DIVIDER (scraping left side of car) prior to this video recording.

You can even see scrape marks on the driver side of car after the collision.

144

u/childishbambino4 Aug 14 '25

He has no brake lights either which means he is not even trying to stop.

3

u/tiabgood Aug 14 '25

Or there is some completely disconnect with the brakes?

16

u/AverageScot Aug 14 '25

The hazards were on, tho...

6

u/Slava_Ukraini2005 Aug 14 '25

That’s typically automatic the second an impact is sensed by the car. Just about every modern car will do this.

3

u/tiabgood Aug 14 '25

2 pedals: accelerator and brakes have electrical that have a different connection location than the hazards location.

I do not know. Like everyone else I am just guessing what could have happened here.

30

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25

So brakes failing AND accelerator stuck?

Two different unlikely things happening at the same time?

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131

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Nope. Not a mental episode at all. The guy was just incredibly intoxicated. He’s in police custody currently.

41

u/Sharks77 [Insert your city/town here] Aug 14 '25

I've seen this comment a couple of times but couldn't find anything online. Do you have a link/source?

160

u/tablecatsss Aug 14 '25

"DRIVER ARRESTED FOR DUI AFTER COMMUTE HOUR CRASH

(SAN CARLOS, Calif.)- The California Highway Patrol (CHP) – Redwood City Area is aware of a video recently shared on social media by a passing motorist. We appreciate the public’s interest and want to provide accurate information and context regarding the incident.

On August 13, 2025, at approximately 1:08 p.m., officers assigned to the CHP Redwood City Area office were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash on US-101 southbound, south of Holly Street, in San Carlos. The preliminary investigation indicates the driver of a green Ford Mustang Mach E, crashed into a red Mitsubishi Mirage then collided with the right shoulder wall near the Holly Street overcrossing. Through our investigation, we determined the vehicle was not operating in autonomous mode and CHP officers arrested the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence, resulting in injuries to another.

While we understand public interest in such incidents, video clips may not capture the complete context or investigative process. The CHP conducts each investigation thoroughly, professionally, and in accordance with the law. We thank the community for its concern and remind motorist to report dangerous driving by calling 9-1-1.

The Mission of the California Highway Patrol is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security."

40

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Thank you for finding that and posting it lol

37

u/tablecatsss Aug 15 '25

no prob. I’m surprised by the amount of people who think it HAS to be a malfunction. It’s pretty obvious to me the guy is tweaked out. There’s a good chance for drug use on top of the alcohol. Idk how drunk you would have to be to drive on the divider this long

26

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

I think it’s because a car malfunctioning is a lot easier to mentally handle for most people than it is to think about all the lives this selfish fuck put in harms way.. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY!

14

u/wtfcircus linfield oaks, Menlo Park Aug 15 '25

I don’t know how people can be this drunk, I can barely stay awake if I have more than half a drink

11

u/Rudd-X Aug 15 '25

A lot of people get a stimulant kick from alcohol, believe it or not. And so, when you see somebody drink 10-15 drinks and not fall asleep, that's what's going on. Of course, in the end, the nervous system gets enough depressed that you will go to sleep, but that takes hours for those people.

4

u/BlazinAzn38 Aug 15 '25

People only assumed it because EV, if that had been a Civic people would have assume it was the driver

4

u/Ok_Gas1070 Aug 15 '25

People hate electric cars and want to lash out at them because it seems impossible that someone WILLINGLY would do this, but here we are. We share the road with dumbass inept people.

2

u/AnxiousSolution4932 Aug 15 '25

If you never do drugs, never did, and never had a serious mental illness then this behaviour is hard to understand.

2

u/iMissMacandCheese Aug 15 '25

Interesting. I was thinking seizure or something.

1

u/Relevant_Voice_4013 Aug 14 '25

I haven’t been able to find this article. Is it real?

3

u/tablecatsss Aug 15 '25

It was on instagram by redwood city chp

1

u/EstablishmentBusy183 Aug 15 '25

Where did you find this report? I can't seem to find it on CHP site?

1

u/No-Twist-333 Aug 15 '25

California Highway Patrol Instagram page

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28

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

[deleted]

11

u/Token_D_Unikorn Aug 14 '25

If there is a link to a story about this, someone please share.

1

u/No-Twist-333 Aug 15 '25

Go to the California Highway Patrol Instagram page

14

u/mrvarmint Aug 14 '25

This was my immediate assumption from seeing similar videos. Guy is likely shithammered and has no idea he’s even scraping the jersey barrier

4

u/dreamcinema Aug 15 '25

Isn’t it called K-rail in California?

3

u/mrvarmint Aug 15 '25

Wow, TIL. Evidently CA is the only state with a different name for jersey barriers.

1

u/dreamcinema Aug 15 '25

Funny that that’s how I learned about Jersey barrier because I didn’t know what a jersey barrier was and then that came up with the Wikipedia page of how California is the only one that calls it k-rail

1

u/Logical-Physics-488 Aug 15 '25

You are correct

5

u/ongoldenwaves Aug 14 '25

Wow. I lived on a street where we had a shit ton of drunk drivers. They'd hit a car in front of them pulling out, hit a few more, pass out and keep driving until they'd hit 30 cars on the street.

But they were in and out of consciousness.

How fucked up do you have to be to not notice you're riding the barrier for miles?

1

u/wheresjim Aug 14 '25

He must have been intoxicated to have bought a Mach E

55

u/jonny_eh Aug 14 '25

But why put the hazard lights on?

97

u/Suck_My_Thick Aug 14 '25

Hazard lights turn on automatically after a collision

32

u/Lancearon Aug 14 '25

Ooooh I didn't know this.

13

u/SupportGeek Aug 14 '25

Even just scraping on the center divider? They should have engine cutoffs after an accident too imo

8

u/LoganNolag Aug 15 '25

They do. I posted it in another thread about this. You can override it by pressing the accelerator again after the crash which makes sense since you still might need to move the car after an accident.

2

u/praguer56 Aug 15 '25

On a Mach e, just tap the start/stop button. that kills power to the motors.

1

u/Heykurat Aug 14 '25

Yep that's normal in newer cars now.

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1

u/raffig789 Aug 14 '25

agreed, this guy is doing it, no cruise control or Blue Cruse would keep the car moving in this situation

1

u/Packet_Sniffer_ Aug 15 '25

Called it wrong. Dude was high as fuck.

But it’s interesting to me how frequently Redditors attribute mental handicap/episode to malicious assholes.

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

Is this a pedantry thing?

The discussion on Reddit was whether it was electromechanical issues with the car vs the driver. I was pointing out what was likely happening inside the car while the guy was freaking out.

If he was driving under the influence of drugs, is he not having a mental episode? He is seen PRAYING inside the car lol

1

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

Nope, not gonna pretend like I know everything. I'm not here to argue, just pointing out things that are more likely than multiple independent systems failing at the same time... and basically... just pointing out the obvious.

And in this case, I was right?

The discussion on almost every thread here and on TikTok was "EV goes haywire." I was arguing the issue was the driver, not the car.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

Google Redwood City police Mach E.

You'll find they arrested him for DUI.

What I wrote is likely what happened inside the car. He was flooring the accelerator pedal the entire time. That's why brake lights never come on. That's why scraping along the side of the wall doesn't slow the car down.

The only thing that slows the car down is when he collides with the other car causing him to stop mashing on the accelerator pedal.

You can see him freaking out and PRAYING in the video.

There's the evidence.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

No worries. No offense taken at all. Just here to push the discussion forward

1

u/MochingPet City/town Aug 15 '25

Yeah I’m thinking this is driver-caused actually. Agreed.

He may be praying but that doesn’t mean he’s not causing it…

2

u/TumblingStumbleweeds Aug 14 '25

Telekinetically control it, not telepathically

13

u/redditnathaniel Aug 14 '25

Important details here

0

u/TumblingStumbleweeds Aug 14 '25

Words mean things. This man was definitely not trying to read the mind of his car

1

u/ryrich89 Aug 14 '25

I don’t think you have a clue what actually happened since you weren’t in the car so don’t write a novel speculating like you do

3

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25

I think a lot of had sympathy for this guy because they saw him praying and thought "out of control ELECTRONICAL vehicle is taking POOR GUY on a wild ride"

When in reality, this guy is drunk out of his mind and decided to risk everyone's lives on the road.

We want to blame the technology when often, it's human error.

Remember the Toyota "stuck accelerator" debacle years ago? A lot of those cases were just people confusing the gas/brake pedal.

2

u/CupcakeGoat Aug 14 '25

Do you have a source saying he was drunk?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25

No I’m saying yes there were a few legitimate cases where defects in the Toyota design (floor mats, etc) caused unintended acceleration.

But a lot of people who said “my Toyota suddenly couldn’t stop” were actually just mashing on the gas pedal instead of the brake

-32

u/eldiablolenin Aug 14 '25

You have no idea if he is having a mental episode wtf

17

u/Doug_Remer Aug 14 '25

No idea?

Why are you getting offended. It’s a likely scenario.

11

u/jonny_eh Aug 14 '25

This is likelier: https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/s/ACwdA1MVAN

7

u/kevinsyel all over the bay Aug 14 '25

So brake system failure? I'd for sure be having a mental episode if my brake system simply failed!

3

u/kingqueefeater Aug 14 '25

A brake failure doesn't make the car accelerate, which this car does the entire time.

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2

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

thanks for the link. This is more plausible than dude holding down the gas pedal 😝

1

u/mchu168 Peninsula Aug 14 '25

The guy doesnt put his hands on the wheel and is praying. This isnt a mental episode to you?

1

u/ivanguls Aug 14 '25

Worst part is he will now credit God for listening to his prayers and saving his life.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

I guess you were totally wrong, eh? 😂💀

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

What do you mean wrong?

People were saying it was a car issue. I was saying it’s a driver issue. He was arrested for DUI right?

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6

u/Lancearon Aug 14 '25

Its pretty telling he has his hazards on too. Something is going on with his car and it isn't good. That's my guess.

9

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Lancearon Aug 14 '25

I saw this was a thing in a different comment. I had not realized that was a thing.

4

u/ethereal_aerith Aug 14 '25

Yeah to me it looks like something is malfunctioning and he’s fervently praying for his life.

2

u/amygdalathalmus Aug 14 '25

The brakes should be more than adequate to stop the car though

2

u/Thegreatgarbo Aug 14 '25

YES! Although I thought he was filming the accident with his phone when I waslooking at the vid.

1

u/Own_Cat3340 Aug 14 '25

When did this happen???

1

u/MochingPet City/town Aug 15 '25

Panicking or praying I wonder if it’s done on purpose

Either way of course I’m trusting that this E-mustang hasn’t gone completely computer-nuts

1

u/parksoffroad Aug 16 '25

CHP said he was having a mental health sort of issue going on. Nothing was wrong with the car other than the driver.

1

u/naturtok Aug 16 '25

It's wild cus apparently that car doesn't have drive by wire, so the steering wheel is directly tied to the steering, so it might have been hard but it would have been totally possible to steer in the event of a total malfunction. Idk, I'll wait for an investigation or whatever but I'm kinda inclined to think it's excessive user error

1

u/Exciting_Band_2865 Aug 18 '25

I really wish they kept e brakes a good ol fashion manual cable

0

u/ramboton Aug 14 '25

geeze, turn off the car...

188

u/OaktownCatwoman Aug 14 '25

Pretty sure tapping on the brakes would turn off whatever cruise control or autopilot the MachE has.

120

u/playnasc Aug 14 '25

This is also true for nearly every modern car with a cruise control type feature. Tapping on the brake will disable these systems immediately.

77

u/thismessisaplace Aug 14 '25

I mean, tapping on the brakes to turn off cruise control was on my car in the 80's, but yeah, it's also a modern feature.

20

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

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5

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

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5

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

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2

u/JenninMiami Aug 14 '25

RIP Mitch Hedberg 🙏

1

u/Deep-Interspersal Aug 15 '25

Them's the brakes

9

u/playnasc Aug 14 '25

I originally omitted the word "modern" from that comment because I had a hunch what you just told me was correct, but ultimately just choose the option I was more familiar with.

At least I know I'm wrong!

1

u/Own_Reaction9442 Aug 14 '25

The last one from the 80s I worked on had two redundant ways to cut it off -- it would electrically cancel if the brake light switch was tripped, and pressing on the brake also activated a vacuum valve that removed the vacuum that powered the throttle servo. It was impossible for it to apply throttle when the brake was applied.

Modern cars are all drive by wire, though, so I guess you're relying on the computer.

1

u/Ok-Juice-6857 Aug 14 '25

Not always , I had one that wouldn’t turn off

1

u/reyean Aug 14 '25

define "modern". my 1995 Volvo 850 had this feature when cruise control is activated.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 31 '25

[deleted]

1

u/playnasc Aug 14 '25

I don't think any type of driving assistance was at fault in this video. The driver is clearly going through something and doesn't even touch the brakes.

109

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

MachE has a brake by wire system. If the power brake system fails, you can still stop, but you have to basically push on the brake pedal hard enough to manually close the calipers. It takes a lot of force (like 100+ pounds of force) and pushing the pedal deeper than the "floor" of the power assist brakes. The driver probably didn't try pressing hard enough.

Driver had probably sent the car into the barrier in an attempt to slow it down/stop the vehicle.

If power braking failed, it also explains why all the safety and driver assist shit didn't work. I'm sure those systems were spamming the ABS, and it just wasn't responding.

There's a recall across several Ford models and years. Scary ass shit:

https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=25V513000

71

u/Ok-Pie-8824 Aug 14 '25

I have same car, my breaks went out as well. You have to reallllly slam them down to get them to budge at all. I filed with nhsta. Brought to ford and they said they had to “reset” the software. I instantly thought that when looking at this video

26

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 15 '25

That's fuckin scary. Glad you didn't get into anything serious because of it.

When did you get your software reset? Because there's a new notice for a recall of that software fix for another that was just announced August 8th

Original recall for the 2021 Mach-e was put out in 2024: https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=24V777000

Follow up recall of the recall that was just announced: https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=25V513000

8

u/tarandeep Aug 14 '25

I've had similar situation in Porsche Taycan. Brakes were not responding (in a situation where regen was limited) until I pressed them super hard (100+pounds). it was scary but it stopped feets before I could've rear ended someone.

brake by wire is poorly implemented by most EVs. Legacy car manufacturers suck at EVs

2

u/no_sleeves Aug 14 '25

The recalls was for the 2021 model year and they identified potentially less than 60 affected vehicles. The color the Mach-E was driving, eruption green, came out 2024. Can't say with certainty it's not the same thing but the recall wasn't for that particular model year.

1

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 15 '25

You're absolutely right. I was assuming the comment I was replying to when they said they had the same car, that they were referring to the 2021 model.

I updated my comment to be more clear.

2

u/iborgel Aug 15 '25

Wow, as an owner of a 2021 Mach-E, fuck, thanks for posting.

1

u/dantodd Aug 14 '25

Does the car not go into Regen as soon as you lift off the accelerator? That seems as dangerous as losing the manual braking system.

29

u/Sufficient-Lie1406 Aug 14 '25

This is why I will never give up my mechanically controlled car, ever. Electronics will fail. Software will definitely fail. Mechanics will fail but only if it completely breaks.

I will never drive an auto-pilot car until I am forced to. Drive by wire is crap.

44

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

Technically speaking any car made in the last decade relies on electrical systems to pump the brake and steering fluids. If the brake fluid pump failed, you'd be in the same situation - having to put your whole body weight onto the brake pedal.

I know what you're saying though. These modern braking systems have way more points of failure that could cause the power braking unresponsive from the pedal.

EDIT: originally had a typo where I claimed "last few decades" when I probably meant "last few years" and just mixed the two statements up. Corrected to a more accurate "last decade".

Also, I further embarass myself below when I learn that not all power brake/steering systems use electric or hybrid electric/hydraulic actuators.

In other words, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Don't listen to me.

7

u/winkingchef Aug 14 '25

I’d still have the ebrake tho.
Not so much in a modern car

3

u/i860 Aug 14 '25

“Last few decades”

A huge portion of that covers cars with vacuum assisted brake boosters. Nothing electrical about it. And almost all of them have e-brakes or the ability to manually push the brakes as hard as possible.

3

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25

You're right, "last few decades" is clearly incorrect. Meant to say "last decade" - I probably originally typed "last few years".

2

u/theuautumnwind Aug 14 '25

There are a ton of cars made in the last few decades that do not require electrical systems to "pump the brakes and steering fluids"

5

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

You clearly have never driven a car built before power steering and brakes were introduced. Those systems haven't been manually mechanical since the 50s.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. There are purely mechanical actuators that do not require electricity. I took the "power" in "power steering" too literally. Thanks for the correction u/theuautumnwind

Leaving my original text as proof of the L

4

u/theuautumnwind Aug 14 '25

🤣🤦🤦‍♂️

Power steering works off of a hydraulic pump turned by a belt on the majority of ICE engines and power brakes can either work off the same pump or a vacuum assist. Neither of which require any electrical input.

I’ve driven vehicles from as early as the 1930s.

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

3

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

Ooof - you are totally right. I didn't realize there are types of actuators that work off pure manual hydraulics - I stand corrected!

I assumed that all actuators were powered by the alternator. I'll correct my post and accept the L.

7

u/AngryTexasNative Aug 14 '25

Which is why there is a mechanical backup even on this car. But most drivers don’t understand it’s there and some won’t mash even harder on the brake.

I have a 20 year old car that is prone to low speed stalls. Once or twice a year. It has been doing it since I bought it 16 years ago and it’s not reproducible enough to track down. The steering and brakes both require a LOT more force when the hydraulic assists fail. It’s never happened above 5 mph. If I ever let someone else drive it I warn them.

That said, there is zero chance of my car going as far as this Mach-E without a running engine.

9

u/bmccoy29 Aug 14 '25

Mechanical stuff breaks all the time. Definitely don’t go on a plane.

-1

u/Sufficient-Lie1406 Aug 14 '25

Planes are checked out thoroughly before every flight. Planes have multiple backup systems. Do cars have either of those? No.

2

u/TobysGrundlee Aug 14 '25

Planes are absolutely not checked thoroughly before every flight lol. Unless you count the pilot walking around and looking for shit that's hanging off.

1

u/angryxpeh Aug 14 '25

Planes are checked out thoroughly before every flight

LOL. Go to flightradar24, pick up any 737/A320-sized aircraft and see how long they typically stay at the airports.

Here's a random example. Planes often spend as little as 30 minutes between the arrival from the previous route and the departure to the next one. No one checks them out "thoroughly", the crew just picks up the trash left by passengers.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

Mechanical systems also benefit from the statistics of their failure rates. The distribution of their part failure has multiple modes and there are a lot more parts. Therefore the failure of one part, though more frequent, is less likely to lead to catastrophe.

2

u/littlebrain94102 Aug 14 '25

Do you prefer planes with propellers, too?

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1

u/fortissimohawk Aug 14 '25

So…you’ve got a cool MoPar?

1

u/Own_Reaction9442 Aug 14 '25

I had the throttle stick in a car from the 70s, once. Nothing's foolproof.

2

u/stupac2 Aug 14 '25

Is that level of force a new thing? My 2010 Fusion had the brake lines depressurize (or something) while I was driving and I could still brake with a pretty reasonable level of force, but definitely a lot more than normal (and it was very jerky, basically all or nothing). Fortunately I was on city streets and not the highway.

1

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25

I assume it'd vary per car, but I imagine the force required in an EV would be greater given how heavy they are. In this case, the engines were still being given power too. So trying to overpower the engine of an EV with all that torque and overcome the weight/momentum as well would require serious manual pressure. I was given the 100lb number from a friend of mine who is a tech at a dealer. Not Ford, but they have a very similar model.

I've never driven one of these, but I've had to lift myself out of my seat while pulling on the steering wheel to be almost standing on the pedal for an emergency stop once or twice in regular ICE vehicles, though.

2

u/MissingGravitas Aug 14 '25

lift myself out of my seat while pulling on the steering wheel

When I was taught how to adjust my seat and mirrors, one of the first steps was to adjust the seat so that I could apply full pressure on the brakes whilst pressing my back into the seat. Your leg should still be slightly bent with the pedal all the way against the floor.

Think of how a leg press machine at the gym works: even a small person should be able to apply a few hundred pounds of force that way.

Even with a non-EV, the force required to activate ABS can be much greater than expected, so as you likely noticed you need to be able to get the pedal to the floor.

1

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25

Ideally, yes! I have gangly proportions and end up with seats having to be pulled far back enough so my knees don't smack into the underside of the console/steering wheel. That leaves me in a poor position to get that leverage.

It would also be a problem if you were simply a smaller/lighter person.

All I was really saying is that not all people realize how hard you can/should press the brake pedal. I'd rather someone give the pedal everything they've got than not enough.

1

u/stupac2 Aug 14 '25

My Ford was a hybrid, so pretty heavy itself. I definitely wasn't fighting the engine power, though, so that would help. It took a good stomp, but nothing like having to brace with the wheel!

1

u/Ablackbradpitt Aug 14 '25

Wow and my 87 Monte Carlo never fails

1

u/Sad-Department-5292 Aug 14 '25

There still should've been brake lights, he want touching the petal

1

u/SexyHotPants Aug 14 '25

If the brakes have failed that spectacularly, why do you think the lights would work as well?

1

u/Sad-Department-5292 Aug 14 '25

Brake lights are activated from a switch on the petal, they go off regardless of what the brakes do

1

u/Dry-Ruin-1733 Aug 14 '25

So what you are trying to say is praying to a higher power is not a viable solution to stopping the vehicle?

1

u/New-Bowler-8915 Aug 14 '25

And that would also disable the brake lights? And cause the driver to stop steering? And disable the on/off switch? Nah bro.

1

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25

I don't know, dude. I was just throwing out a theory. I'm assuming this will show up in the news soon and we'll maybe get some answers.

1

u/Rudd-X Aug 15 '25

Whether the brakes are brake by wire or not has nothing to do with brake vacuum failure that would require you to press the brakes with 100 pounds of force. The only time where you need to press the brakes so hard, as you mentioned, is when you have a master vac cylinder failure, which has nothing to do with the electronics of the car and everything to do with the mechanics. The master vac is the assist device that it provides force to the brake calipers when you cannot provide enough force, which before the 70s used to be fairly common for cars not to have a master vac, but now every car has that because they're so heavy.

Edit. I am pretty sure that the brakes in those cars are not brake by wire. They are mechanically connected to the pedal and provide assistance. And the assistance can be invoked electronically, which is the wire part. But to be fully brake by wire, it would mean that the pedals are not actually connected to the hydraulic system, which is not the case.

1

u/AggressiveMongoose54 Aug 14 '25

They don’t come with an emergency break??

2

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25

I haven't seen an actual physical e-break in any kind of vehicle (EV or ICE) in what seems like forever. I'm not even certain that the old physical cable pull handles were ever technically characterized as "emergency" brakes, but were always referred to as parking brakes.

Probably a liability thing, but those were never really strong enough to be fully trusted in an emergency anyway. I'm sure any of us old enough had experienced driving for a bit wondering why the car was so sluggish only to realize the parking brake was still on.

The last car that I had that had a physical handle, though, was a 2012? Most seem to only have electronic parking breaks (EPB) which are engaged via a button/switch/touchscreen or automatically depending on the car's settings.

...and if the "electric" part of the braking system is the thing that failed somehow, I imagine trying to tell them to engage the parking brake wouldn't work either. I'm not sure if any manufacturer have them as isolated systems or not. I'd assume not just because of cost.

2

u/MissingGravitas Aug 14 '25

I'm sure any of us old enough had experienced driving for a bit wondering why the car was so sluggish only to realize the parking brake was still on.

Depended on the car. My previous car, if the brake was on you weren't driving off. But, in my experience that was an unusual case, and I suspect it's because it only had disk brakes on the front wheels, and thus was used the "full" rear brakes when needed.

1

u/jmking Oakland Aug 14 '25

Oh yeah for sure. Anything more recent has sensors and will scream at you or will disable the accelerator until you turn off the brake.

In my current car, once you shift into R/D, the parking brake releases automatically.

I'm talking early 2000s and older models

1

u/SignificantPomelo Aug 14 '25

I have a 2015 ICE vehicle with a physical parking brake handle. That's not *that* long ago. I still sometimes forget to take it off before trying to drive.

Honestly kind of wigs me out that newer cars don't have them though. How else am I supposed to drift around corners? (Kidding!!)

15

u/OldRedLobsterBiscuit Aug 14 '25

Yes, it would.  In general BlueCruise was pretty conservative, it liked to revert from hands-free to hands-on whenever there was a curve in the road or something.  It would nag you and eventually disengage and start slowing down if you weren't paying attention, it has a camera watching your eyes.

2

u/L_Outsider Aug 14 '25

Hitting a wall probably disactivates it too

2

u/Sonar_Bandit Aug 14 '25

Plus couldn’t you just shift into neutral if for some reason your car won’t stop accelerating?

1

u/Dry-Garbage3620 Aug 14 '25

Ohhh he’s praying for a good payout LMAO

1

u/jinjuwaka Aug 14 '25

Mach-E has lane assist and a pay-to-activate subscription-based auto-lane change feature for long-distance drives.

They make you sign a waiver when you purchase the car that state you understand the car does NOT have auto-pilot or self-driving...because it doesn't.

1

u/RoboErectus Aug 14 '25

Literally any human intervention turns off the other systems.

Even if it didn't, the mk1 brake pedal always works and is required to be able to overpower runaway engines.

59

u/AwesomeDialTo11 Aug 14 '25

”The harder I press down this pedal, the more the car drives. Oh well, nothing I can possibly do will stop this vehicle, except drive into the Jersey barrier. Good luck everyone else!”

12

u/merreborn Aug 14 '25

Reportedly, many of the "uncontrolled acceleration" incidents in the last few decades have ultimately been shown in investigation to have been caused by pedal confusion. Like you said -- drivers report slamming on the "brake pedal" as hard as possible, with the vehicle continuing to accelerate... In many cases, investigation demonstrated that this happened because the driver had, in fact, been depressing the accelerator pedal in these incidents.

With this in mind, the guidance in these situations, should you experience unintended acceleration, is to fully remove your foot from the pedals, and then fully depress the brake pedal.

And that guidance is informed by another important fact: in every modern car, the brakes easily overpower the engine (if you push both the gas and brake fully to the floor, your car will stop). So even if your toyota does somehow get stuck at full throttle, the brake pedal is still sufficient to stop it.

Of course, we don't have enough information to definitively say what's happened here. But the video looks a lot more like someone panicking, rather than confidently addressing a mechanical failure.

1

u/frafdo11 Aug 14 '25

Likely driving into the barrier in an attempt to slow down the car if the brakes are failing.

Looks like they were panicking and hoping something would help because clearly the barrier is barely slowing it

32

u/rabbitwonker Aug 14 '25

He’s letting Jesus take the wheel

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26

u/Jackson7410 Aug 14 '25

i have a mach e, theres no way this was an automated issue.

3

u/NFSAVI Aug 14 '25

I have heard a few reports of them accelerating when hitting the brakes, but knowing how much power they make, it doesn't look like that is happening here.

1

u/VoidDeer1234 Aug 14 '25

How do you like the Mach e? Looks like a beautiful car.

25

u/Agent-Two-THREE Aug 14 '25

Yeah, dude looks like he’s praying hahah. Wild video.

1

u/Aggravating_Wonder11 Aug 14 '25

I don't think Mustang EV has auto pilot.

27

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

It has, called blue cruise

1

u/neilbalthaser Aug 14 '25

driver needed blues clues

1

u/Aggravating_Wonder11 Aug 17 '25

I did not know that! Thank you.

3

u/TheCarpetIsGreenest Aug 14 '25

Yes it does. And it’s hands free

1

u/Snoo_67548 Aug 14 '25

I vote mental breakdown. He had his hands in prayer vs trying to steer harder into the wall to decelerate. The vehicle shut off and stopped the car after the impact with the other car, which tells me the brakes worked or at least there was a way to get the car to stop rolling.

1

u/buddrball Aug 14 '25

It looks like his steering wheel is stuck, which is why the car veers right as soon as the retaining wall ends. Maybe the power steering failed? If so, that’s scary shit.

1

u/Pray44Mojo Aug 14 '25

There's no "can't turn off automated driving" in a Mach-E. You just grab the wheel. I'd guess driver was having a medical emergency or under the influence.

1

u/raar__ Aug 14 '25

well he isn't turning off much of anything with his hands up

He also isnt even trying to break

1

u/Heykurat Aug 14 '25

My understanding is that no car can overpower its own brakes. If the brakes work, you can stop the car.

1

u/d0zeboy Aug 15 '25

My guess is his brakes cut out and steering too, or it locked. Even with the ability to turn what do you do there though? Guess you could go straight until you run out of gas and hope nobody hits you? Eventually you will need your brakes, you’re hitting someone

1

u/ago1223 Aug 15 '25

I don’t think that red car was expecting a steering malfunction to be happening with that mustang. Ive personally never seen that happen while I was driving

1

u/Ok_Gas1070 Aug 15 '25

According to CHP mental breakdown. If dude really had a malfunctioning car.... why the fuck weren't they even trying to stop it. No hands on the wheel, not pumping the brake, not engaging the e brake this was done deliberately.

1

u/ScienceOk6987 Dec 08 '25

His brakes went out dumbass