The accelerator pedal sticks with the engine revving and the car accelerating on its own. What is the correct sequence of actions?

Why D is correct

Neutral is the escape lever in a stuck-throttle event: it disconnects the engine from the wheels instantly, so the revving engine becomes noise instead of propulsion. From there the procedure is the ordinary one — signal, steer smoothly to the shoulder, brake normally to a stop, and only then shut the ignition off. Shutting off at speed is the last resort rather than the first, because killing the engine removes power steering and power assistance together and makes the still-moving car measurably harder to control precisely when precision matters most.

Why the other options are wrong

A. Switch the ignition off immediately at speed, then steer to the shoulder

An ignition kill at speed strips you of power steering and assisted brakes while the car is still moving fast. Neutral achieves the same result — no drive to the wheels — without giving up any of the systems that steer and stop you.

B. Pump the pedal hard and keep driving until the engine loses power on its own

Pumping a genuinely stuck pedal rarely frees it and burns the seconds in which distance is accumulating. The throttle is already fully applied; adding more pedal inputs does not change the engine's state.

C. Pull the handbrake at speed to stop the car where you are

A handbrake yanked at speed locks the rear axle and initiates a skid exactly when you need directional control. It is a tool for a stopped vehicle on a hill, not a brake for a moving one with an open throttle.

On the road

A floormat rides up under the pedal on an on-ramp and the engine screams to full boost. The driver's foot finds neutral instead of the mat, the surge dies to a roar, and the car glides onto the shoulder under its own brakes. Total elapsed time: six seconds, with the ignition turned off after the handbrake goes on — the order doing all the work.

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