It can kill you.

A YOUNG P-plater drove his car with the engine turned off and keys out of the ignition because he thought it would save petrol.

It instead resulted in his death and one of his passengers losing half her face ...

Apparently some people don't realise this, so now you now. Don't do it, people will lose faces.

I don't know if this story is more sad or stupid? Have any of our resident dumbarses ever done this? I've been in a car that almost pranged cos the idiot driver took the keys out and locked up the steering, was very scary at the time.

The steering wheel would've been locked even if he turned the car off (ie the key is at the off position), but didn't remove the keys wouldn't it?

I haven't read the whole story, but why couldn't he break or handbrake before the crash?

natural selection for the driver
unfortunate that his friend couldn't save face though

edit for above question:

I haven't read the whole story, but why couldn't he break or handbrake before the crash?

once the engines off you have no hydraulic pressure to operate the main brakes, also your handbrake is s*** and only works on the rear wheels



last edited by tequila at 14:28:22 25/Aug/09

asif there'd still be cars around that don't have comfort access
where was this, zimbabwe?!

He probably spazzed and panicked. And yeh I think steering lock doesn't engage until the keys are removed.

In the case I remember, the d******* was driving his girlfriend's car and she wanted something off her keyring (had massive amount of s*** hanging off it). So he shifted to neutral and passed her the keys ...

Bad parenting.

I've known about this simply from mucking around in the car as a kid. If dad has the keys, the steering wheel will f*** up.

where was this, zimbabwe?!

Almost.. It was near Hobart, so close enough to Zimbabwe.

Also a problem when people get their cars towed with a tow cable so they think they dont need the keys in.

The steering wheel would've been locked even if he turned the car off (ie the key is at the off position), but didn't remove the keys wouldn't it?

Correct.
This is a silly thing to do. I know i've done some stupid s*** whilst driving over the years, and i've certainly turned the engine off to coast, but i've never gone back more than one click before on (ie acc)

http://www.themercury.com.au/images/uploadedfiles/editorial/pictures/2009/08/25/Crash1.jpg

last edited by Mr Hardware at 15:15:07 25/Aug/09

heh turning the car off while driving

that is pretty retarded.

yes it is. I don't think people realise how little fuel is used at idle, for most cars it's around 1 Litre per hour.

She killed him.

My car was having trouble with the gearbox and wouldn't reverse. So my dad decided to tow it up our steep curved driveway using his van and a piece of old rope.

When the van got to the top, the towed car was only halfway up the drive and needed the steering wheel turned.

So the car had to be started to unlock the wheel, but starting it caused something in the gearbox to jump (remember the gearbox is f***ed) and the whole car moved forward.

This in turn pulled the van back down the hill, and both cars smashed into the house, crushing the small car between the van's bullbar and the brick wall.

Yeah so... if you're at the top of a hill with a car roped to your car, and you need to jump out to turn the steering wheel of the other car - put your hand brakes on.

once the engines off you have no hydraulic pressure to operate the main brakes

You mean Vacuum, and the brakes would have still worked, just not nearly as effective without the aid of the Vacuum booster.

yes it is. I don't think people realise how little fuel is used at idle, for most cars it's around 1 Litre per hour.

And coasting down a hill you would probably be using even less than what you'd be using at idle.

last edited by scuzzy at 15:47:30 25/Aug/09

so much wtf in your post thermite
although it is you, and the dude who's genes you were partly derived from I guess :P

I was asleep man.

lol pos wrx needed to be towed

Back in the day when I used to drive my parent's old camry the ignition key would occasionally fall out while driving, luckily the engine stayed on.

yeah thats right scuzzy, i believe in injected cars, coasting with zero throttle they squirt nothing at all.

except with lpg they keep pouring gas in

once the engines off you have no hydraulic pressure to operate the main brakes, also your handbrake is s*** and only works on the rear wheels

Not sure what car you're driving but my brakes still work with the engine turned off, they're just harder to press. You probably mean there's no vacuum left in the booster, there's usually always hydraulic pressure in the brake lines whether the engine is on or off.

As for why he couldn't brake, the booster went on my ute once while I was driving along, let me just say that if you're unaware the booster has gone or the effects of turning off the engine (I assume the P plater didn't know squat) you're not gonna stop in a hurry. Stopping a tonner with no booster isn't fun.

Car becomes rolling paper weight, had a mate grab my keys while turning the corner at work( doin 15-20km max) and yeh steering locks up, little breakes.
Ass Hole. lol

the crash happened last December

Why are we hearing about it now??

had a mate grab my keys while turning the corner

What a dick.

Why are we hearing about it now??

Depends on if it's been tied up in the court system.

except with lpg they keep pouring gas in

troll account. And no, they have stepper motors there to stop the flow if it's not required.

i'm pretty nub at cars and i didn't know that's what would happen if you took the keys out when driving.

having said that, taking my keys out while driving never particularly appealed to me as a good idea. it seemed really stupid like something bad would happen... and how!

i'm going to listen to the voices in my head more often now, good work team

Yeh, I knew this, but only because my engine died once while I was driving and the breaks stopped working properly. If I had never had that experience, I would have never been told about keeping the engine on.

So, I don't think it's natural selection, but I guess the good that can come of it is that hopefully he message will get out there that people shouldn't turn off car while driving.

Car becomes rolling paper weight, had a mate grab my keys while turning the corner at work( doin 15-20km max) and yeh steering locks up, little breakes.
Ass Hole. lol

If I had a "mate" that did this right after he grabbed my keys his face would grab my elbow. I'm pretty sure I can turn my toyota off and still be able to steer so long as I don't take the keys out, it's got some weird set/reset thing in there that once it's unlocked it won't lock the steering unless you actually remove the keys.

I used to do it all the time in my VR, I'd be driving along & the gearbox would bitch to the ECU and it'd go into safe mode so I'd just turn the thing off & start it back up again while driving down the highway. Yes I did get the gearbox fixed & didn't leave it like that permanently.

My car engine stopped while I was on the freeway. I went to pull over and the brakes hardly worked. I learned a lesson and no one was hurt.

Now taking you keys out of the ignition while driving, thats just plain stupid.

vaguely related: i found out what it feels like to drive without power steering (sort of?) the other day mid-turn when my car decided that it wasn't really necesary to keep it on. driving would've been balls before they invented that s***.

car peoples - is ~$1000 a reasonable price to have an alternator pulley replaced, the alternator cleaned and reset back into the car on a 02 or 03 astra sedan? sorry if that's not correct terminology/doesn't make sense i left the invoice at work ><

offer them another couple of hundred on top of that they wont expect it

is ~$1000 a reasonable price to have an alternator pulley replaced, the alternator cleaned and reset back into the car on a 02 or 03 astra sedan

only if $1000 is okay for my old P4 2.4
no, what a joke. Take it to an auto-elec and see what they say.

In my old corolla i had my alternator go spaz, the dude took it off the car, replaced the spring thing inside, gave it a good clean and put it back in the car for $60 cash.

lol thermite, that story explains a lot - the apple never falls far from the tree

vaguely related: i found out what it feels like to drive without power steering (sort of?) the other day mid-turn when my car decided that it wasn't really necesary to keep it on. driving would've been balls before they invented that s***.

Driving with a power steering rack without the hydrolic fluid getting pumped around it is harder than a manual rack.

teh davwoo has no powersteering, i consider driving a work out now

i used to drive an old ek out on the farm.. the key didnt work.. you just turned the ignition.. anyway oldmate kept telling me to turn it off when i was coasting to save fuel.. i said to him outright.. if you touch the ignition while i'm driving i'll push you out of the car.. any way he did.. so i slammed on the brakes.. got out and walked back to the house.. only a cpl of k away

i have had a car die on me and no power assisted brakes or steering.. i can imagine if you were going fast this could f*** up your day

Sorry thermite but that story sounds like a bad "charter boat? What charter boat" sequel.

replaced the spring thing inside

Thats the Brushes, they push against the windings contactor.
This one time, at Landcruiser Park 4x4ing, my alternator died, so ripped it apart and repaired the brushes, they were stuck in so I had to use some of Jims 'cooking oil spray'(or 'man back oil') to 'unstuck' them, gave the contactor valleys a quick clean and oiled the dry bearings and slapped it all back to together. still going strong :)

For super cheap alternator and starter motor deals talk to the guys and girls at Automotive Electrics Australia 32774566 in Archifield/Coopers Plains. Usual price for a brand newie alt or starter from them is under $300.

Yeah, steering lock is covered in Australian Design Rules 25.2:

25.2. DESIGN OF LOCK
25.2.1. The lock shall be a 5 or more tumbler lock or other lock of ‘Approved'
type giving equivalent protection. The probability of the key operating
the lock of another vehicle in the same model range shall be not greater
than one in one thousand.
25.2.2. The lock shall provide for at least the functions nominated in Section
25.1
25.2.3. It shall not be possible to adjust the lock from the “engine on” position to
the “anti-theft” position without passing through the "engine off”
position
25.2.4. When the key is removed the lock shall be in the “anti-theft" position
25.2.5. With the lock in the ”anti-theft" position it shall be impossible either to
steer the vehicle, or to engage the forward drive gears, or to release a
brake, without removal or destruction of the device.
25.2.6. Where the requirements of Clause 25.2.5 are met by a device which
prevents steering of the vehicle, the following additional requirements
shall apply:
25.2.6.1. It shall not be possible to adjust the lock from the “engine on” position to
the "anti-theft" position by a single rotary or linear motion of the key.
25.2.6.2. Where the design of the lock to achieve the requirements of Clause
25.2.6.1 embodies 2 or more separate rotary movements of the locking
device, adjustment from the “engine off” position to the “anti-theft”
position must require either:
25.2.6.2.1. a design linear axial movement of the key of not less than 2 mm; or
25.2.6.2.2. actuation of an additional blocking device separately controlled. The gear
selector may constitute such a blocking device.

No idea why cars these days have steering wheel locking for anti theft purposes when it causes accidents like this.
But turning the car off whilst driving is a pretty stupid thing. Maybe if the industry/parents/driving instructors actually taught new drivers the reason why you don't turn your car off and take the key out whilst driving we wouldn't have this problem.

^ Pretty sure that in your driving test you aren't allowed to neutral or even clutch coast let alone turn the engine off in motion...
So I'm not seeing how the fault is there.

a driving test isn't necessarily going to cover enough time for every driver to exhibit every possible behaviour they might in their time of driving after the test

I have a feeling the keys in my mum's Excel can be taken out in the drive position so obviously its still driving, but its still not the best idea.

The keyslot in my VT won't let you pull the key out until its off.

No idea why cars these days have steering wheel locking for anti theft purposes when it causes accidents like this.
But turning the car off whilst driving is a pretty stupid thing. Maybe if the industry/parents/driving instructors actually taught new drivers the reason why you don't turn your car off and take the key out whilst driving we wouldn't have this problem.

haha

hahah thats really silly, turning your car on and off actually consumes a fair bit of petrol compared to idle.

no it doesn't

Speaking of natural selection, I saw someone get... "selected" yesterday by walking out in front of a car doing the speed limit. There was no crossing there, and its a fairly dangerous road.

Was just across the road from the Albion pub on the corner.

kid coulda just jammed it in first gear? that would have slowed him up pretty quick

Pretty sure that in your driving test you aren't allowed to neutral or even clutch coast let alone turn the engine off in motion...

Yep that's correct. Truckies of old refer to neutral as 'angel gear', as it's the gear most likely you'll become and angel in, apparently.
I know the cabbies used to say that the accellerator was just as important as the brake when getting yourself out of trouble.

lol truckies of old and cabbies
everyone who was born before 1985 and knew how a clutch worked used to call it angel gear

it's angel gear cos you're relying on angels to carry you safely

Was just across the road from the Albion pub on the corner.

^^ I'm surprised there aren't any more people killed on that blind corner... seriously so many morons crossed that road in the blind corner

kid coulda just jammed it in first gear? that would have slowed him up pretty quick

news article doesn't really give enough info about how long he was in the lane before the truck hit him. It could have been pretty much an instant hit as soon as he veered across lanes.

At speed, could the syncros even mesh it into first?

ram it hard enough and it will go in

esp in some old s***box like that


edit; paveways mother

Texting whilst driving can be dangerous too...

The keys fall out of hubby's ignition all the time. Car keeps on trucking!

I blame this generation and the "I have an auto-only licence" attitude.

Let the flame war begin.

FaceMan, this version is better:

And coasting down a hill you would probably be using even less than what you'd be using at idle.

my cars trip comp says 0.0L/h when you go down a hill.

yeah thats right mooby, whilst under compression braking (sort of) your injectors are doing pretty much nothing.

ZOMG SAVING FUEL!@!#

yeah, if you want to save $ at the pump, do something un-dangerous like LPG

he said fuel, not $ !

fuel = $

oh jim you troll

emissions, resource consumption, wear and tear
I couldn't care less about the few bucks difference each week, but when I'm not purposely fangin it I try and drive to save fuel

speeding is a c*** act and against the law.. made especially more of a c*** act when its shown how many people are killed from it..

what's speeding got to do with anything
fail

hahah thats really silly, turning your car on and off actually consumes a fair bit of petrol compared to idle.

I bet you believe turning the lights on and off wastes lots of electricity as well.