off the rails

Idioms  

1. In an abnormal or malfunctioning condition, as in Her political campaign has been off the rails for months. The phrase occurs commonly with go, as in Once the superintendent resigned, the effort to reform the school system went off the rails. This idiom alludes to the rails on which trains run; if a train goes off the rails, it stops or crashes. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

"There has been so much litigation and so much effort to stop projects by people who are opposed to them that I think that it's the permitting process that has gotten off the rails," she told AFP.

From Barron's

In mitigation, David Mason KC said the "hardened criminal" had "completely gone off the rails and got himself in a terrible, terrible situation".

From BBC

“Things haven’t gone off the rails yet. The market is bending, but it isn’t breaking,” Mike Thompson said.

From MarketWatch

My future had already gone off the rails, even if they didn’t realize it; I had already gone to France.

From Literature

"Unfortunately, she kind of went off the rails a little."

From BBC