Stabilitrak fails = 1080 through 4 lanes of traffic & rail guard

[Milk 1027]

Some of you need to learn to read carefully, your skewing his story.

[Edge.128]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

Some of you need to learn to read carefully, your skewing his story.

he hasn't come back to clarify things. still based on how he says he was fighting to stay in control of the vehicle to begin with its probably safe to say he should have been going WAY slower than 50mph.... and i don't see how stabilitrack failing could have imediately spun the car that sounds like driver error or hydroplaning to me.

[Milk 1027]

Originally Posted by Edge.128

he hasn't come back to clarify things. still based on how he says he was fighting to stay in control of the vehicle to begin with its probably safe to say he should have been going WAY slower than 50mph.... and i don't see how stabilitrack failing could have imediately spun the car that sounds like driver error or hydroplaning to me.

correct

[HDRDTD]

It's possible that it was very windy where he was driving and that's what he was fighting. Then the car started hydroplaning, causing the Tc and ST to fail, at which time another strong gust of wind came up and was the final straw, sending him into the spin.

Many many things are 'possible' non of can know for sure, we were'nt there.
We can speculate all we want, but.....

[nancygrl]

Glad the OP is ok. A car is replaceable, you're not. This happening last night, it's probably some time from being investigated. Let the insurance company do their thing, that's what you/we pay them for. I don't think you're gonna get anywhere going after GM. Like someone mentioned that's not your fight, file your insurance claim and go from there.

I'm not going to say one way or the other, things may not add up, but I wasn't there so I'm not going to rush to judgement. Heck he wrote it at 1:54AM after being in a wreck. Was he going to fast for conditions, possibly, but I'm sure there are extenuating circumstances, there always is, are, whatever

I do agree that people tend to rely on their nannies way too much. Technology can only do so much, the rest is on the person behind the wheel. Hell, when I lived up north, I drove home from work 45 miles in a heavy snow storm (12-14 inches) in a 1985 firebird. The only thing I had was snow tires and a full tank of gas. I trudged home slowly, was very nerve racking, it took me 7 hrs, but I made it becuase I played it smart. Point is, I didn't have any tech nannies whatsoever, but I had all sorts of a-holes speeding past me in their 4x4's only to find they eventually went off the road and wrecked or got stuck and had to abandon their vehicles.

I lived in Portland Oregon for a little while and if the roads up in the Seattle are anything like Portland's, then they are dreadful in the rain and snow.

[Ovenmitt]

Originally Posted by jrhaus76

Order of operations:

Change the thread title to DRIVER FAILS... 1080 through 4 lanes of traffic... Driving too fast for conditions.

Call insurance company and make a claim.

Get a new car.

Preferably a FWD 4 cylinder
:th umbsup:

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by EMB135Driver

I'm Glad the OP is ok, but I gotta say the chances of GM giving you a new car are 0.....what if you took your car out in a blizzard and totaled it...would you expect a new car becaus the Stabilitrak failed (and it doesn't sound like it did....sounds like it was being pushed to the max). Be thankful for insurance and your health, and move forward.

I can't read through this whole thread, but did anyone happen to catch if a Crazy Old Man was seen immediately before the accident?

This guy?

[FastEddie]

Originally Posted by EMB135Driver

I'm Glad the OP is ok, but I gotta say the chances of GM giving you a new car are 0.....what if you took your car out in a blizzard and totaled it...would you expect a new car becaus the Stabilitrak failed (and it doesn't sound like it did....sounds like it was being pushed to the max). Be thankful for insurance and your health, and move forward.

I can't read through this whole thread, but did anyone happen to catch if a Crazy Old Man was seen immediately before the accident?

You mean THIS guy? *Damn Steve is my mental twin* and faster too....Must eliminate...*

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by FastEddie

You mean THIS guy? *Damn Steve is my mental twin* and faster too....Must eliminate...*

I shall just call you Eddie from here on out...

[Number 3]

OP, first know that everyone on this site is glad you made it through. It's pretty scary to lose control let alone spin.

Let your insurance buy you a new Camaro, that is what it's for.

Here is what GM says about Stabilitrak:

StabiliTrak

GM is committed to continuously improving the crashworthiness and crash avoidance of our vehicles, and one of our technologies is StabiliTrak®, a stability enhancement system that makes our already safe vehicles even better.

StabiliTrak with Traction Control offers enhanced safety in adverse driving and road conditions. StabiliTrak is standard on many GM cars, trucks, crossovers, SUVs and vans. These vehicles meet or exceed government safety standards and GM's own strict internal requirements.

StabiliTrak helps drivers maintain control of vehicles during certain difficult driving conditions such as:

Ice

Snow

Gravel

Wet pavement

Uneven road surfaces

Emergency lane changes or avoidance maneuvers




Notice it says "helps" and "enhances" not eliminates or prevents.

I had chance to drive an SRX through horrid rain in WV last week. I had a couple of cases where the vehicle hydroplaned horribly. TC and Stabilitrak did nothing. And I can also assure you if I had done anything other than lift off the throttle, I would have been in deep #$%^&*. Any quick jerk to the wheel to get back on track would have likely had some pretty frightening consequences.

If you did any quick input to the steering wheel in this very quick event, you can still spin the car, electronics or not.

I've had case to spin out in vehicles with TC and Stabilitrak in Michigan winters. You can very easily get behond the ability for these two great safety features to real your car back in.

Again, sorry for your pain and sorry for the loss of your Camaro. But what you've described, and I can only judge by that, Stabilitrak didn't cause nor could it have prevented your accident.

Here is a nice summary of what ESC is and does.

http://cars.about.com/od/thingsyouneedtoknow/a/ESC.htm

Note this comment in the post:

If my car has electronic stability control, does that mean I can't lose control of my car?

NO! Even with ESC, it is still possible to lose control of the car. Excessive speed, slick roads, and excessively worn or improperly inflated tires are all factors that can reduce ESC's effectiveness.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by OUTATIME

Besides the fact he asked for a new car from GM . . . why the hell are you bashing this guy?

He had a "Service Stabilitrack" message -> this means a system failed on his car. The system isn't designed to correct every mistake you make, but it will at least minimize the chances of you losing control.

Had it not failed, he COULD (not would) have made it home, while still struggling to keep the wheels straight. I think people need to lay off of him, and GM at least should look at his case of why it failed.

Because he immediately blamed GM for his car crashing. Key lines being that he assumed Stabilitrak caused his car to fishtail often (Uhhh no). And that Stabilitrak failed and his car then spun. Two things that happen when you push that long skinny pedal on the right too hard or conditions, traction control or not.

When that error message comes up in the middle of a situation like that its because the system is failing because there is nothing it can do when there is completely 0 traction. Guarantee if it wasn't damaged in the wreck if you start the car now it will turn on fine.

[Scrappy Doo]

Originally Posted by Number 3

OP, first know that everyone on this site is glad you made it through. It's pretty scary to lose control let alone spin.

Let your insurance buy you a new Camaro, that is what it's for.

Here is what GM says about Stabilitrak:

StabiliTrak

GM is committed to continuously improving the crashworthiness and crash avoidance of our vehicles, and one of our technologies is StabiliTrak®, a stability enhancement system that makes our already safe vehicles even better.

StabiliTrak with Traction Control offers enhanced safety in adverse driving and road conditions. StabiliTrak is standard on many GM cars, trucks, crossovers, SUVs and vans. These vehicles meet or exceed government safety standards and GM's own strict internal requirements.

StabiliTrak helps drivers maintain control of vehicles during certain difficult driving conditions such as:

Ice

Snow

Gravel

Wet pavement

Uneven road surfaces

Emergency lane changes or avoidance maneuvers




Notice it says "helps" and "enhances" not eliminates or prevents.

I had chance to drive an SRX through horrid rain in WV last week. I had a couple of cases where the vehicle hydroplaned horribly. TC and Stabilitrak did nothing. And I can also assure you if I had done anything other than lift off the throttle, I would have been in deep #$%^&*. Any quick jerk to the wheel to get back on track would have likely had some pretty frightening consequences.

If you did any quick input to the steering wheel in this very quick event, you can still spin the car, electronics or not.

I've had case to spin out in vehicles with TC and Stabilitrak in Michigan winters. You can very easily get behond the ability for these two great safety features to real your car back in.

Again, sorry for your pain and sorry for the loss of your Camaro. But what you've described, and I can only judge by that, Stabilitrak didn't cause nor could it have prevented your accident.

Here is a nice summary of what ESC is and does.

http://cars.about.com/od/thingsyouneedtoknow/a/ESC.htm

Note this comment in the post:

If my car has electronic stability control, does that mean I can't lose control of my car?

NO! Even with ESC, it is still possible to lose control of the car. Excessive speed, slick roads, and excessively worn or improperly inflated tires are all factors that can reduce ESC's effectiveness.

Dear OP:

CASE CLOSED!

Thank you

[formare]

Originally Posted by SlingShot

Glad your alright , but I'd have to agree with the above post. Something just ain't right with this story. Even with all the nannys turned off, you should not have had any problem driving at 50 mph in a rain storm. In Florida we do that every day during the summer, and I'm talking about tropical down pours without any problems.

Sorry don't buy it.

[formare]

Originally Posted by Scrappy Doo

Dear OP:

CASE CLOSED!

Thank you