quick time events dont work?

I'm stuck on the tutorial. Yes. I know. No, I'm not actually that stupid, as far as I know. Here's what happens:

1. The left arrow lights up.
2. I press the left arrow.
3. I hear a sound which seems to indicate I did something right.
4. I get hit by the car. Every time.

This is so ridiculously simple, it's hard to imagine what I could be doing wrong. They tell me to press left arrow -> I press left arrow... but wrong, somehow. Does this make sense to anyone else? How do you get quick time events to work... like all other quick time events I've ever played in any other game?

I know there's some way to do it, because if I do this instead:

1. The left arrow lights up.
2. I randomly mash on keys and mouse buttons.
3. I hear a sound which seems to indicate I did something right.
4. Sometimes I get hit by the car, but sometimes I carwheel out of the way.

So apparently, there's some way to do this - something aside from hitting the left arrow. So how do you do it?