Sticky accelerator pedal in Singapore

One morning in early January of this year, I was driving my 2008 Toyota Corolla Altis to work, heading west on the AYE. At one point I wanted to pull out and pass, so I pressed the accelerator pedal to the floor. To my horror, when I removed my foot from the accelerator pedal, it stayed firmly on the floor. The car continued to accelerate rapidly and only by strongly applying the brakes did I avoid slamming into the vehicle ahead of me. For several seconds I had to steer an accelerating car while applying the brakes -- not trivial, as it turns out. It was only after several kicks at the stuck accelerator pedal that it finally released and I regained control.

It took me an amazingly long time to bring the car into the service station (that's me), but when I did, they performed a careful check and gave me two expected answers: First, none of their tests, neither the test drive nor the computer analysis, showed any sign of a problem. Second, my Toyota was assembled in Thailand and therefore did not carry the faulty mechanism responsible for sticky accelerator pedals in Japan and North America.

To the Toyota representative's credit, he did not in any way suggest that I had accidentally kept my foot on the accelerator pedal or some such thing. We can also rule out that the pedal was trapped by the car's floor mat.

I have driven on the expressway many times since then and, when the road is quite clear, I have tried putting the accelerator pedal to the floor. The problem has never been repeated. But this is not unexpected based on the accounts of others who have undergone similar scares.

Nonetheless, the disturbing thing is that it happened. I would be greatly interested to know if anyone else in Singapore has had this rather terrifying experience.