Happened to me while driving an Lexus Ls430, it was new, liek 07, 08. I threw it in neutral almost immediately, didnt even think about it, just a reaction. Happened in my civic as well.

Its obvious that the guy panicked and wasnt able to think rationally, but at the same time, he was able to call 911 and even tell the guy his exact location. I dont think this had too much to do with the floormat itself.

The technology in these new model cars kind of scares me sometimes. Like the new Jaguar, with the gear selecter which only slides out when the car starts. What if your battery is dead? You cant push it in neutral? Same thing with the new BMW's, if your door is ajar and you select the Drive gear, it will actually start to roll until a second later when it just stops dead because it goes in Park automatically.