A surprising number of people confuse the accelerator with the brake, and it usually ends badly.
That’s certainly the case this time around as a Toyota Yaris in Vietnam was involved in a crash after its driver reportedly mixed up the two pedals.
As you can see in the video, the driver was apparently parking or leaving a parking spot alongside the curb. Regardless of what they were doing, they hit the accelerator while in reverse and this sent the car backwards.
Instead of hitting the brake, they apparently kept their foot on the accelerator and crashed into a handful of two-wheelers. The incident finally ends after the Yaris hit a tree and came to a stop.
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No one was injured in the crash, but it could have been much worse as the vehicle narrowly avoided hitting a pedestrian as well as a woman who was bagging groceries with her back turned. Interestingly, the pedestrian barely reacted as they simply moved their arm out of the way at the last second. However, after the danger had passed, they started running.
Of course, this driver is far from alone in confusing the two pedals as we’ve seen countless other incidents over the years. To help counter the problem, Toyota introduced an upgraded Pedal Misapplication Acceleration Control System in Japan last year.
The system detects when a driver “rapidly and strongly” pushes down on the accelerator, thinking they’re slamming on the brakes. While it doesn’t bring the vehicle to a stop, the system suppresses acceleration and provides drivers with audible and visual warnings telling them to hit the brakes.