What Happens If You Turn Off Your Car While Driving?
It turns out there’s a very good reason for this seemingly strange feature
Most of us aren’t going to try to turn off a car at 70 miles per hour on the highway. But what would happen if you accidentally bumped the push-button starter or experienced a mechanical failure while driving? Consumer Reports’ automotive experts explore if it’s possible to turn off the engine while a car’s moving.
“I took a gas-only Ford Maverick, which has a physical key, and a hybrid Maverick, which uses a push-button starter, out to our test track,” says Ryan Pszczolkowski, Consumer Reports’ tire program leader and test driver. “I drove the regular gas-engine truck down the straightaway and turned off the ignition while the vehicle was at speed. The engine turned off but the steering and brakes continued to work, which made it possible to pull the vehicle off to the side of the track. Once I came to a complete stop and put the car in Park, I was able to start the engine again.”
There were similar results with the Maverick hybrid, Pszczolkowski says. When the driver pushed and held in the push-start button for a few seconds while the truck was moving, the engine turned off. The steering and brakes worked in accessory mode, as well as the dashboard lights.
“On one hand, it might seem strange that you can turn off your car at highway speeds,” says Mike Monticello, Consumer Reports’ road test manager. “But the reality is that this is a safety feature. If your car experiences a fire or mechanical failure, it’s important that you’re able to cut power to the engine and safely pull the vehicle over to the side of the road.”
So yes, it’s possible to shut off a car while driving, but you should do so only to address a rare, urgent emergency.
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Editor’s Note: This article has been adapted from an episode of “Talking Cars.”
