douart

doug_scott, Thanks for your contributions. Your are right, except, where did you ever drive that everyone, or even most, followed the rules? I experienced that before. I was a fairly new Christian leaving a crowded parking lot at a large motel after a Christian meeting and was shocked at the courtesy of the drivers. Your "what ifs" could also be applied to the GM ignition switch problem. And, there are situations where no amount of defensive driving can help. Did anyone ever change lanes and cut in front of you? "What if" they had had a flat tire and lost control or their engine was shut down by the ECU when encountering "Reduced Engine Power" and they lost power steering? Well, enough "what ifs" from me. I am convinced that if a person ever experiences the problems with "Drive by Wire" and starts researching the problem they will find many examples of dangerous situations that were out of the drivers control. I like "Drive by Wire" but it has problems. For instance, shutting down the engine or just going into "Reduced Engine Power" mode because redundant throttle position sensors do not agree does not seem justified to me. Plus, the overwhelming method of repair is to start replacing $200/$400 parts with no certainty of a fix. I understand that that could be cheaper than hooking up an oscilloscope and trying to catch a very intermittent error but, it is a very haphazard and uncertain method of repair. Sometimes the symptoms go away and then return at varying intervals. I have been searching for information about how to "Test, Diagnose, or Troubleshoot" the "(TAC)Throttle Actuator Control module" on a 2003 Silverado 1500HD here http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/164583-dreaded-reduced-engine-power/ . Thanks Don

How about one fellow I read about while I was researching "Reduced Engine Power"? He was in the mountains pulling a trailer when his engine dropped to idle speed. What if he was climbing a grade in traffic? What if you were in the middle of multi-lane traffic when it happened? Someone behind you needs to brake hard with someone behind them or change lanes with no where to go. Accidents waiting to happen.