Picture this: you’re driving, and suddenly the car won’t slow down. The accelerator is stuck to the floor. Your brain goes blank. That’s the moment most people panic — and that panic is exactly what makes a manageable situation turn deadly.
Here’s what you actually do.
First, try to stay calm. Hard, yeah. But you need to think for about 10 seconds.
According to the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles, your first move is to kick the side of the accelerator pedal once or twice — sometimes it’s just physically stuck and a quick jar frees it. If that doesn’t work, shift the car into NEUTRAL at the same time you press the brake firmly. That’s the combo.
Shifting to neutral cuts the engine’s power from reaching the wheels. The car will still coast, but it won’t keep accelerating. You regain control of your speed, and your brakes can actually do their job again.
A lot of people worry that throwing a revving engine into neutral will blow up the motor. Totally understandable fear. But modern engines have a rev limiter — a built-in safety feature that prevents the engine from spinning fast enough to actually damage itself. The engine might sound scary loud for a moment, but it won’t destroy itself.
State Farm recommends pressing the brake firmly with both feet and holding it down — don’t pump it and don’t release it, because doing so causes you to lose the vacuum power assist that makes your brakes effective.
Once you’re in neutral with the brakes applied, start looking for a safe place to pull off — an open zone away from other cars, a parking lot, a side street. Signal, steer, and get off the road.
If you drive a manual (stick shift), the move is even simpler: push the clutch in, which does the same thing as shifting to neutral in an automatic.
One thing worth knowing: you might read conflicting advice online about turning the engine off entirely. That’s generally not recommended while moving — on some older vehicles, turning off the ignition can lock your steering wheel, which makes a bad situation way worse.
The big takeaway? Neutral is your friend. Most drivers have no idea this is an option because nobody ever told them. Now you know.