Is there anyway to force Keycode.w through UI button?

I'm making a car game, the car moved when W is pressed, and breaks/reverses with S. I need to make it mobile friendly so I've added pedals UI buttons. Here are my attempts.

  static void MyKeyDown()
     {
 
          Input.GetKeyDown("w");
         
     }
 public void  GasPedalDown()
     {
         gasIsPressed = true;
         pedalImage.sprite = pressedDown;
         
      }

 void Update () {
 
         if (gasIsPressed)
         {
             MyKeyDown();
             Debug.Log("I AM CONTINUOUS");
         }
     
     }

GasPedalDown() is called from the event on the button pointer down, gasIsPressed becomes false once I let go of the button. This is one thing I tried. I also have the carController run the same functions while gasIsPressed = true, as it would if keycode.w was down but it's not working.

  if (gear_1 && Input.GetKey(KeyCode.W) | Input.GetKey(KeyCode.S) | gP.brakeIsPressed | gP.gasIsPressed && virtualAxis < Gear_1_MaxSpeed)
          {
             //JointMotor2D tempMotor = BackWheelJoint2D.motor;
             // tempMotor.maxMotorTorque = Gear_1_Torque;
 
             virtualAxisFront += Gear_1_Acceleration;
             virtualAxis += Gear_1_Acceleration;
 
         }

 if (Input.GetKey(KeyCode.W) | gP.gasIsPressed) // only run motor when w is pressed down
         {
             if (rb.velocity.x >= 0) // check to see if the car (not the wheel) is movein, so we can BRAKE
             {
 
                 myWheelJoin2D[0].useMotor = false;
                 BackMotor.motorSpeed = -1 * Mathf.Abs(virtualAxis) * carSpeedMultiplier;
                 myWheelJoin2D[1].motor = BackMotor;
                 if (is4x4)
                 {
                     FrontMotor.motorSpeed = -1 * Mathf.Abs(virtualAxisFront) * carSpeedMultiplier;
                     myWheelJoin2D[0].motor = FrontMotor;
                 }
                 if (is8x8)
                 {
                     FrontMotor.motorSpeed = -1 * Mathf.Abs(virtualAxisFront) * carSpeedMultiplier;
                     myWheelJoin2D[0].motor = FrontMotor;
 
                     FrontMiddleMotor.motorSpeed = -1 * Mathf.Abs(virtualAxisFront) * carSpeedMultiplier;
                     myWheelJoin2D[2].motor = FrontMiddleMotor;
 
                     BackMiddleMotor.motorSpeed = -1 * Mathf.Abs(virtualAxis) * carSpeedMultiplier;
                     myWheelJoin2D[3].motor = BackMiddleMotor;
                 }
             }

Thanks!