[Joe Wicked]

Not to stir the pot, but my first car (1976 Mercury Monarch 2 door) had a 302 and the throttle return spring broke from the throttle cable. Instead of it springing back, it hooked on the throttle bracket which held it at about 3/4 throttle. I was on the local 1/4 mile drag strip and it happened towards the end of my run. Suddenly the pedal got real soft and the engine RPM dropped. I noticed quickly that I was still accelerating and luckily I had the presence of mind to shut it off before I passed the traps.

Just wanted to point out that sometimes the simple technologies will fail too. Obviously it was an isolated incident on a well used car, but the possibility still remains.