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biofriendlyblogFeb 11, 2011
FTA: “Had Toyota included a brake-override system, as have other manufacturers, it is clear to us that the company could have prevented a series of well-documented accidents and fatalities..."
Closed AccountFeb 11, 2011
May not stop them..but will make them a hell ofa lot harder to win.
NewsMeBackFeb 12, 2011
It's bad anyways for their marketing.
sattireattireFeb 12, 2011
as long as toyota counter sues for court and lawyer fees...and im pretty sure they pay big bucks for their lawyers.
kwanijmlFeb 12, 2011
good, this is where the lawsuits belong. . . in the hands of those harmed or wronged, to be decided case by case. . . no blanket lawsuit or resulting regulation which does not help those who were harmed, and only hurts the industry at large.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
brucealmightyFeb 12, 2011
There's a heluva lot at stake here so everyone is treading very carefully....but in the end I just can't buy that ONLY Toyota drivers - and lots of them - are prone to 'accidentally' flooring the accelerator pedal and then not being able to slow down or stop. That just doesn't pass my 'smell test'.
smilingoatFeb 12, 2011
I dont understand why everyone is backing up toyota like they were overly bullied or something. toyota knew of several major safety flaws in their vehicles and did not tell the public, strictly to save money. Is this one part of one of the problems debunked? yes. but the fact of the matter is that the company still tried to hide safety risks from the public. i dont care if this one issue is accurate or not, the real issue is that for the past 15 years toyota has been really good at hiding the problems it does have.
how did everyone suddenly forget about the memos that were released where toyota employees discussed several different failures and how to keep those from the public?
falstaffFeb 12, 2011
The (Digg) headline does not match the article contents:
"In the report, government engineers found that the unintended acceleration incidents in Toyota vehicles were due not to electronic problems, but rather to mechanical defects — specifically, to accelerator pedals that stuck to the floor and floor mats that got trapped."
Assuming Toyota employees or contractors put the pedals and floor mats in the Toyota vehicles, they weren't exactly "cleared."
So yeah, it makes sense that lawsuits would go forward if the report finds mechanical defects.
jihadofthesoulFeb 12, 2011
it wont stop them...they will keep accelerating
mogebierFeb 12, 2011
I remember a 911 call from one of the old people who was driving "out of control". The 911 operator asked him if he tried to shut off the car, and he said "no". The operator asked him if he tried to put it in neutral or change gears and he said "no". If you are too stupid to do the easiest things when there's a problem like that, you deserve to crash.
The old man could dial the phone, but NOT TRY TO TURN OFF THE FREAKING KEY or try and put the car into another gear?
Come on.
smilingoatFeb 12, 2011
so if you panic you deserve to crash/likely die?
sure, the rational thing to do is put it in neutral and press on the break.
But put yourself in the shoes of a 65 year old man that has possibly never heard of the issue. Suddenly your car flies forward at full acceleration. would you instantly think to put it in neutral? no. turn of the key? no. Slam on the breaks? yeah probably, which wouldnt do much because you are working directly against the engine. now i doubt you'd be calm at this point, so what do you think of next? neutral? maybe. Key? maybe.
If your in one of many of these new toyotas and your second thought was "Key" well youre SOL again, because after 55 years of turning a car on and off with a key, now all you have is a button, which wont turn off the car while in drive.
finally you make it to neutral, you pop it in as fast as possible.
now how long did that take? how calm would you have been? how fast did you get going before you were able to do all of this while scared and confused out of your mind?
because after all of this, you still have to come to a controlled stop. a lot harder if you are already speeding down a road with a lot of turns.
user500Feb 12, 2011
why would in such a situation someone think " ill make a few calls".
mogebierFeb 12, 2011
He was ON THE PHONE for over 3 MINUTES with the operator.
He didn't panic, this particular man was an IDIOT.
Driving a 2000+ lb car is a dangerous thing to do on a regular day, and it is even more dangerous if you panic in an emergency like this man did.
I don't remember what car he was in, but Toyota keyless ignition systems will shut off the car if you hold the button for 3 seconds, even if the car is in drive. They are thinking about redesigning it so that it takes 3 button presses instead because most people don't read their car manuals, and in an emergency will just keep jamming their finger on the button. So you are wrong about how a keyless ignition works.
Look at how many "sudden acceleration" accidents there are every year, and in the majority of cases it's an old person who mixes up the gas and the brake and goes through the front window of a business.
I remember seeing a story earlier this year where most of these "runaway" toyotas recorded that during the emergency, the EMERGENCY brake wasn't even used on the cars at all.
So I think it will come out that in the majority of cases it was an error between the seat and gas pedal that caused all these accidents and emergencies.
smilingoatFeb 12, 2011
You say he didn't panic then state he did panic in the very next line. The cars weigh over 3000lb. I wasn't wrong about the button not working because nearly nobody would think to hold it for 3 full seconds besides even if you started. Besides 3 seconds is an eternity to cut office engine.
mogebierFeb 13, 2011
He didn't panic when he dialed the 911 operator. He had enough thought to pick up the phone. Unlock the screen. Dial 911, and talk to the operator.
But didn't think to either use the key or push the button he turns or pushes EVERY time he starts or stops the car?
Idiot.
Some Toyotas weigh over 3000 lbs, some don't. That's why I put the + sign.
Lrn2read.
smilingoatFeb 13, 2011
The lightest toyota with a full take of gas is about 2900 lb. or ~3000 lb.
aka know where near 2000lb.
"But didn't think to either use the key or push the button he turns or pushes EVERY time he starts or stops the car?"
? pushing the button does nothing when driving the car. try it sometime.