No I was not driving it, and nobody almost hit me. My wife drove it for the first time and when she hit the gas for the first time, her foot somehow got lodged between both the gas and brake peddles. She panicked and pushed the gas harder to get her foot out, but by then we were going more than 90mph in a 30mph zone. Thank God nobody was in front of us and the road was perfectly straight. So we slowed down without incident. This all happened in just seconds. This should not cast any negative reflection on the car in any way. It could happen in most any car. But for now she does not want to drive the RLX-SH or any car for that matter. She will get over it and we will move on.

 

Really glad to hear you both are all right after a harrowing ride. I am glad you had the foresight to communicate this to the group as "There I Was" event.

 

First, knock on wood that nobody was hurt in the incident.

Secondly...Note to self...inform wife that the RLX Sport Hybrid will automatically rev match the downshifts and no "heel-toe" throttle blips are necessary thus avoiding her foot getting stuck between the pedals.

 

Yikes. That could have happened to anyone in just about any car if the pedal was slippery. Did you try to press "neutral"?

 

It happened so fast and the car was accelerating so hard that she freaked out and honestly in the heat of the moment it didn't occur to her or me to put it in neutral even though it was right next to us. I was just trying to direct her, grab the steering wheel to keep us going straight, while she was trying to get her foot unstuck from between the peddles. She was screaming in a panic and I was trying to direct her what to do. She had just stepped in some salty water just before entering the car and the boots she was wearing were just the right size for this to happen. Once we were parked and the car was off I asked her to try to repeat the incident and she couldn't. It was just one of those freak things. The whole thing lasted as long as it takes for the car to accelerate from 10-90mph at about 80% throttle input (my estimation). She could not sleep last night and does not want to drive today at all.

 

That never crossed either of our minds. She was just attempting to get used to it since she has not driven it at all since I bought it on 12/31/14. We simply turned off our street onto another side street that just happened to be empty, straight and free of snow. Just one of those things.

 

glad you made it OK! thanks for sharing.

 

Wow, scary. Glad everyone is safe.

 

In defense of your wife: Any new car I drive, I feel uncertain and cautious while driving. I hit the wrong stalk when trying to turn on cruise, or windshield wipers, and the pedals can feel odd to me.

In any case, time will help her, and she will just need to drive the hybrid a few times til it's second nature to her.

But I am getting old, I don't like changing to new things only because the transition keeps getting harder as I age.

I buy new things to keep up, like other people, but it's getting harder.

 

true that sooththetruth. when i drive my wife's new Mercedes few times i would knock the car into neutral when i reach for the wiper stack. its on the left in a Mercedes and on the right just where you would expect the wipers to be they have the gear shifter. i guess as technology change we are going back to button drive and three on the tree. ;-)

 

Just catching up on the reading and wow I am glad she is fine and nothing happened. I hope you can all take it in stride now. So, let me ask: is that where you were able to do 0 to 60 in 4.89 and it was your wife!



Again-glad to hear everyone is well.

 

RLX-Sport Hybrid....I am happy to see that both you and your wife are both OK. Just re-assure her that things like this happen and that she shouldn't feel bad nor nervous about driving a vehicle again. It could happen to any of us, and that is what she needs to realize.

I can appreciate that you had no time to react and press the neutral button....these things happen so fast.

Thanks for sharing and again, delighted to see that no one got hurt.

 

So I tried to shift into neutral at slow street speed in my Sport Hybrid yesterday as I was thinking of this thread. No bueno.

So what if there was really uncontrolled acceleration? Car won't let you shift to neutral, and won't turn off. Are you hosed in that situation?

 

Could be.

Some moron backed into my MDX in a parking lot today. No damage. Pissed me off though mighty good. The other guy just took off.

 

^^ Gheesh....YOu aren't having a good stretch either. Read my post in the TLX section...I am hanging my hat too! No more new cars for me....

 

My evening got worse when I was 100 yards from my house, a tree branch broke off in the wind and fell on me as I was driving up the street. What are the odds?!!! I have a smashed wind shield and a broken side view mirror, but that is it. Seems like you and many others are having some frustrations out there too. Oh well, at least it was the MDX and not the SH.

 

Boy !!! Are you having a bad day

 

Page 520 of the owner's manual describes the "Emergency Power Off System":

The POWER button may be used to turn the power system off due to an emergency situation even while driving. If you must turn the power system off, do either of the following operations:
• Press and hold the POWER button for about two seconds.
• Firmly press the POWER button twice.

 

Either of those things?

Or both of those things?



If it's both of those things, that might be expecting a little too much. Four to five seconds is a really long time in an emergency.

 

It says "either". I haven't tried it on my RLX, but I remember trying it on my wife's '14 TL with the "long press" because that was our first car with an on/off button. Worked fine. Just coasted to a stop. I obviously suggest trying this only in a large parking lot. I guess the bigger question is whether or not you will remember exactly what to do in the instant of a crisis.

 

Well, I didn't follow my own rule....RTFM on the issue. Off I go to do just that. Reassuring to know that function is there in case Atmos takes over and tries to drive me into a canal. (Dr. Who reference for those who don't get it.)