On Mar 15, 11:52*am, Roy wrote:
On Mar 15, 9:55*am, (Doug Miller) wrote:

"Gomez said the best evidence that his client was frantically slamming the
brakes is that a California Highway Patrol officer who was giving Sikes
instructions over a loudspeaker smelled burning brakes and saw the lights on."http://www.foxnews.
com/leisure/2010/03/15/govt-explain-runaway-calif-prius-incident/

Brake lights on, brakes getting hot enough to stink, yet the car isn't slowing
down -- brakes clearly are *not* fully applied.

I wonder if there's some sort of problem that prevents the brakes from being
fully applied, no matter how much pressure is applied to the pedal. That would
be consistent with the multiple reports of drivers "standing on the pedal"
while the car continues to accelerate.

==
I have seen situations where people have had their seats set too far
back from the steering wheel which reduces the power that could be
applied to the brake pedal. Mind you most of these people where fairly
obese and their bellies too large. Nevertheless this could be a factor
in stopping a run-a-way vehicle.
==

IME most newer cars have the opposite problem - when you set the seat
so that you have a comfortable reach to the steering wheel, your feet
are too *close* to the pedals. My older cars do not have this
problem. I do not know why this is, but my theory is that it is due
to concerns about airbag deployment.

nate