A woman was reportedly pinned underneath a driverless Corvette in a bazaar Manhattan accident.
The vehicle was not an autonomous Corvette, but rather an unoccupied vehicle waiting at the entrance to a Midtown parking garage. The owner approached and hit the remote-start button on his key fob to start the engine, causing the convertible to launch across the street and strike a woman as she exited a restaurant, according to the New York Post.
A lot attendant interviewed by the newspaper claimed to have retrieved the car and engaged the parking brake.
“The driver went to pay. He squeezed the button .. and the car started rolling,” the attendant said. “The driver said, ‘oh sh-t’ and ran after the car.”
The Corvette appears to be from the C5 generation, and the report claims it was outfitted with a manual gearbox. The C5 was never available with remote start as a factory option, suggesting the system was installed as a custom aftermarket accessory.
If a remote-start installer disables or bypasses the clutch interlock switch, which requires the pedal to be depressed before starting the car, the vehicle can be started when in gear. With enough power on tap at idle, an emergency brake may prove incapable of keeping the wheels from spinning if the vehicle is started in gear.
The victim in the Manhattan accident was reportedly taken to a local hospital. It is unclear if she sustained serious injuries from the accident.
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