Runaway C8
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2021
Posts: 230
Likes: 206
From: Port St. Lucie, FL
2026 Corvette of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2025 C8 Stingray of the Year Winner - Unmodified
Runaway C8
Here's a hypothetical question for the group. Over the years I have always theorized (probably falsely) that as a passenger in a runaway situation with an incapacitated driver I could always reach over and turn the ignition off and/or pull the emergency brake to possibly take a little control. In the C8 what would the options be? Pushing the Start/Stop button would probably not do a thing and the Park brake is out of reach.
Is the only option grabbing the hand grip and hanging on until you reach the site of the accident?
Is the only option grabbing the hand grip and hanging on until you reach the site of the accident?
Popular Reply
Sep 22, 2025, 08:24 PM
Moderator
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 39,079
Likes: 17,935
From: DFW Area TX
You worry too much. Your chances of being struck by lighting are probably magnitudes more likely.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,258
Likes: 543
From: Appleton WI
Here are the options I would consider in order of attempts while steering the car. 1) Put the car in neutral. 2) Pull the driver's right leg off the gas pedal or turn off cruise control. 3) Reach / crawl over to pull both paddle shifters in (not sure this is even possible for most people including myself) 4) Turn off the engine and coast. Will lose steering ability with this option but lessen the impact.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 12,769
Likes: 10,203
From: Garden Valley CA
Here are the options I would consider in order of attempts while steering the car. 1) Put the car in neutral. 2) Pull the driver's right leg off the gas pedal or turn off cruise control. 3) Reach / crawl over to pull both paddle shifters in (not sure this is even possible for most people including myself) 4) Turn off the engine and coast. Will lose steering ability with this option but lessen the impact.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,258
Likes: 543
From: Appleton WI
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 12,769
Likes: 10,203
From: Garden Valley CA
I don't believe the car will attempt to shift into park at speed, and there isn't a steering column lock on the C8.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 2,833
Likes: 2,151
From: Kelso, Wa
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,376
Likes: 8,532
"If the EPB is applied while the vehicle is moving, the vehicle will decelerate as long as the switch is pressed. If the switch is pressed until the vehicle comes to a stop, the EPB will remain applied."
How well it would work, and how quickly it might wear out the e-brake pads is another question.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,198
Likes: 853
CF Community Team
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 14,120
Likes: 7,413
From: Pittsburgh
2025 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Bend over & kiss your a** goodbye 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 968
Likes: 344
From: Yazoo City Mississippi
She saved Herself and countless others by doing what She did. They were in a major interstate
Moderator
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 39,079
Likes: 17,935
From: DFW Area TX
I disagree. My Father in law had a Major Stroke while driving back in June. Mother in law grabbed the steering wheel and slammed the car into park. ( Honda) He was dead by the time She got the car stopped.
She saved Herself and countless others by doing what She did. They were in a major interstate
She saved Herself and countless others by doing what She did. They were in a major interstate
From the National Library of Medicine:
The findings here agree with previous studies that natural deaths at the wheel are fairly uncommon, and that the risk for other persons is not significant.
Last edited by Zymurgy; Sep 23, 2025 at 02:37 PM.
