While sticking accelerators have been recently been pegged to Toyota vehicles, this can occur in any vehicle for a variety of reasons, ranging from a broken motor mount or improper floor mat, to a system glitch, so it is best to be prepared.

First, don’t panic. Your first instinct will be immediately to turn off the engine. But if you do that, in many vehicles you will lose your power steering, power braking, and turn signal functions. Instead, immediately shift the vehicle into neutral.

When you shift into neutral, the engine will continue to rev, and might rev even higher since the vehicle is now out of gear. However, unlike vehicles made prior to the 1980s, modern vehicles have rev-limiting devices built in to protect the engine from over-revving, which would cause permanent engine damage.

Next, find the nearest, safest place to coast off of the road out of the way of traffic, then turn the engine off, and turn on emergency flashers